


A New York Fairy Tale

by Applesaday



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Enchanted AU, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-09
Updated: 2015-09-09
Packaged: 2018-04-17 22:53:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 35,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4684319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Applesaday/pseuds/Applesaday
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Enchanted AU. Regina can't stand the fact that Snow White and Prince Charming got their Happy Ending while she's left to her lonely existence. So, along with Maleficent, they strike up the perfect plan: Send Snow White to a land with no happy endings. But things don't go as planned, and Regina ends up being pulled into the same world. Now she's rooming with a sceptic and her son, the latter convinced he can try to find Regina her own Happy Ending.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Wish

**Author's Note:**

> Okay! My first Big Bang fic, and I'm both excited, and very curious as to whether you'll like the story!
> 
> The premise is essentially the ouat characters in an AU for the movie Enchanted, but with a few twists. And some things aren't exactly the same as they are in ouat's FTL, such as portals, but some things do pull from the ouat mythos. And as you’ll be able to tell, sans some of Enchanted’s more…frivolous plot lines.
> 
> First, I have to thank the mods who organized the sqbb: Tiff and Lola, thank you so much for hosting this!!
> 
> And an endless thank you to my wonderful and amazing betas: theannperkinsofblogs, mandyrosask, delirious-comfort, and Diana. Seriously they corrected all sorts of my silly mistakes and made this into the amazing fic that is now.
> 
> Of course I have to especially thank supernana494 who made the most gorgeous covers on the planet for this fic that still have me squealing over them.
> 
> Last but certainly not least, my cheerleaders/encouragers: flutter2deceive and Irene, thank you!!
> 
> I truly hope you'll enjoy this!

Once upon a time, there was a princess named Snow White. She was widely regarded as the fairest in the land, kind to all she met, and in turn, everyone loved her.

Well, everyone except one. Queen Regina, or as she was more widely known as: the Evil Queen. She was bitter in her hatred of the Princess, though the exact reason why was a mystery. Rumours varied from jealousy over who was prettier, to something much more sinister that took place many years ago. The former was the more popular theory, for the great Snow White could do no wrong, she was an angel!

So, the Evil Queen was branded as a shallow and vain woman. But since she cut an imposing figure, the people of the Enchanted Forest attempted to use their mockery to try and wear her down to seem less frightening. The plan backfired, for it had only made the queen angrier and more vengeful in her hatred, and she orchestrated a grand plan to get rid of Snow White by putting her in a deep sleep.

Joining her endeavour was Maleficent, who also had revenge in mind. She was just as unhappy about her situation as Regina, though her hatred had stemmed from Prince David's actions, Snow White's beau, and popularly known as Prince Charming for his kindness and well-spoken wit. But just like Snow, he had his skeletons. His crime had been to burn down Maleficent's home, claiming that it was all in the name of 'freeing the people of the dragon's evil clutches', even though she was living unprovoked and in peace until that moment, and certainly hadn't been holding anyone hostage. Since then, she had been desperate for vengeance, and on finding an ally with a common goal, the two villainesses had gathered and conspired, wanting to rid the world of the pair of self-righteous fools. 

Their plan had been simple. Maleficent would disguise herself as an old peddler, giving Snow a perfect red apple, secretly laced with a sleeping potion. Meanwhile, Regina would lure Charming away and lock him up in a dingy prison cell in the middle of a cave within the Infinite Forest, leaving him to rot while his beloved succumbed to a sleeping curse, nevermore to awaken. 

Imagine their surprise when the inane couple prevailed, and the curse was broken by true love's kiss. Now that Snow White had her true love confirmed, it spurred the perfect couple to marry, knowing that what they had was unbreakable. Suffice it to say that the Evil Queen was livid. 

"It's impossible, he shouldn't have been able to break the curse!" Regina exclaimed to the sole other person in the Dark Palace, furiously pacing. "And how the hell did Charming escape in the first place?" 

"Believe me, I'm just as angry about all of this as you are," Maleficent drawled, lounging on the armchair. "But what can we do? Crash the wedding?"

This is where the two women found themselves, one day before the wedding. They were brainstorming last-minute ideas that they could put in motion.

"No, no, it needs to be something truly permanent, something they can't easily solve with true love's kiss," Regina mused, sneering.

"We could kill them?" Maleficent suggested.

"Once again, no. Death is too simple, too final. We have to make them _suffer_. I want Snow White alone and scared, while her _Prince Charming_ ," – she practically spat his name as if it left a bad taste in her mouth – "works tirelessly to try and rescue her, but falls short. Every. Single. Time."

Maleficent thought for a moment and then got an idea. "I've heard tell of these portals using magical beans, they can transport a person to any realm the caster wishes. Legend says there exists a land without happy endings, it'd be perfect to banish the insipid princess."

"Intriguing. And where would I get such a bean?"

"From Rumpelstiltskin." No sooner had she spoken, than he was summoned. "Speak of the imp, and he shall appear," Maleficent added in a low grumble.

Dark red mist precluded his entrance, and with a flourish, he began to giggle. "Did someone call?"

"Not for a social visit, so don't get your hopes up, imp," the queen scoffed.

Rumpelstiltskin didn't appear fazed or insulted by the harsh response. "Ooh, touchy! No matter, I've already had my afternoon tea. I suppose you require something from me then? If that's the case, I am at your service."

Maleficent spoke up in a haughty tone, "Your little realm jumping beans, how much are they going for?"

"Well it depends!" Rumpelstiltskin answered, waving his hands around and giggling once more. "Who wants it, and _what_ would you want it for?"

Regina did not have time for his games. "Does it matter what it's for? You sell magical items."

"True enough, but I like to make my deals personalized, make sure the person that wants them won't have to ransom a king to pay my price! And I like to be in the know of what everyone is doing, who is getting revenge on who and the like. So, your Majesty, who do you wish to banish?"

Although Regina had no interest in providing Rumpelstiltskin with gossip, she surmised he already knew most of it, seeing as he was well aware she was the one who wanted the bean to banish someone. "Snow White. I want to send her far away. To the land with no happy endings."

"Oooh, such a vengeful streak! You really won't give up, will you? Makes me wonder how far you'll go for this little bean?" Rumpelstiltskin punctuated the question by making the bean in question appear clutched between his forefinger and thumb.

Regina eyed the bean hungrily. "Do not underestimate me, imp. I _will_ go as far as it takes."

"Really? Enough to give up your magic? For a limited time, of course. Not even I would be so cruel." The imp was smirking, self-satisfied with the way he had weaved his price and trapped her between two choices: make her seem weak, or take away a vital part of her.

"For how long exactly?" Regina asked, seeming like she wasn't perturbed by the prospect of losing her magic, even if it was temporary.

"A fortnight. You can have this bean, solve all your problems, and get your heart's truest desire. Do we have a deal?"

Regina could compromise. Two weeks for a lifetime free of Snow White? "Yes."

* * *

If there was one thing that Regina hated, it was having someone else teleport her. She preferred to be in control of her destination, and not leave it at someone else's whim. But without her magic, she had to compromise. As it was, she trusted Maleficent to not teleport her into a wall, or a wardrobe. But appearing in the middle of Snow's room while she was being fitted for her wedding dress by her woodland creature friends did nothing to change her set opinion.

"Well, aren't you just the image of purity and perfection," Regina mocked, catching the bride's attention.

"Regina!" Snow exclaimed as she whipped around, nearly falling off the step stool she had been perched on while a few birds were adding the final touches to her dress.

Regina rolled her eyes at how jumpy Snow was. "Oh relax, I am not here to kill you."

Snow didn't look too convinced, brows furrowed in confusion and doubt. "You…you're not?"

"No, I am not so heartless as to destroy all the planning that must've gone into preparing for this perfect day. No dear, this day is _yours_." It felt so easy to lie, to make her words seem sincere.

Snow flashed a shy smile, but then frowned as she said, "I am sorry that you weren't invited, but if you want–"

Regina was quick to stop that idea from forming. She was here on a mission. "It's quite alright, weddings aren't really my thing. But, I did want to give you a gift to mark this monumental day. Would you like to go see it?"

Whatever little voice was at the back of Snow's head, warning her against trusting Regina, was shut out. She would choose hope, hope that Regina was truly resentful of her actions, and just wanted to do the right thing. "Certainly!"

"Follow me, it's in your garden," Regina beckoned, walking out of the room in that refined way that only she could pull off.

Snow happily got down from the step stool, bunching up the front of her dress before heading out behind Regina, throwing caution to the wind, leaving the woodland creatures blinking in confusion. David was out with the guards and Red to finish preparing for the wedding, so the castle was empty. It really had been the perfect moment to strike.

They entered the garden quickly enough, Regina a few paces ahead of Snow, and the former walked over to a fountain against a stone wall, with a cascade of water tumbling down from the top of the mural, creating a melodious sound as it fell onto the pond below. She threw the bean into the water with a small plop, and watched as the surface shifted ever so slightly from calm shallow waters to a much deeper swirling vortex.

"The fountain?" Snow asked, coming to stand beside Regina. Seeing that the water was different, she uttered a soft "Oh!"

"Yes, it's not exactly the same fountain. You see, I have decided to use my powers to temporarily shift it into a wishing well. You merely need to dip your hand in the water while filling your mind with whatever dream of choice you wish, and it will become reality. My gift to you on this special, special day," Regina explained, the tall tale seeming quite convincing even to her, despite knowing the truth. Once Snow's hand was in the water, she'd be sucked into the portal and taken to the miserable land forevermore.

Snow thought for a moment. She had no need for a wish, she had everything she wanted! But, looking at the woman beside her, she realized that Regina could use a wish of her own. Shaking her head, Snow said, "Thank you, but I don't need any wishes, you should use it, Regina!"

Of course Snow wasn't going to make this easy on her. "I couldn't do it, dear. I cast it. I can't cast a spell to give myself wishes, otherwise, don't you think I would've used it by now?"

Regina had made a fair point in Snow's mind. Maybe she could make a wish for Regina on her behalf. Yes, that sounded like a perfect idea. "Okay, I've got my wish."

Smirking, Regina beckoned her closer. "Excellent. Just think clearly of your wish, and then submerge your hand into the water."

Without further ado, Snow kneeled by the fountain's edge. With her mind clear, she let her wish take over her mind. 'I wish for Regina to find her happy ending.'

Regina watched gleefully as Snow moved her right hand into the water, using all her willpower to not push the woman in herself, expediting the process. For a second, nothing happened, and then Snow let out a shriek as she felt the suction of the portal pulling her further in.

"Regina! What's going on?!" Snow exclaimed, not understanding what was happening. She was using her left hand to try and pull her right arm back, but with no success.

"You dear, are headed to a land where there are no happy endings," she explained with a malicious grin.

At Regina's evil cackle, Snow turned her head to look accusingly at her nemesis, still keeping up her efforts to fruitlessly pull at her right arm. "You tricked me!"

"And you fell for it like a fool!" Regina gleefully responded, bowing a bit to look condescendingly at Snow. "Enjoy the trip!"

But Snow was not going to succumb to defeat so easily. Regina was still standing very close to her. Stopping her struggling, she timed her actions just right.

When the water's force grew strong, and she felt her entire right forearm pulled underwater, she grabbed a fistful of Regina's skirt with her left hand. Wind begun to howl as the portal grew stronger, making it harder to move away as the suction pulled at anyone in its vicinity.

"What the hell are you doing?" Regina asked, fear lacing her voice in a rare moment. She tried to back away from the grip on her dress, but it yielded no results with the force of the portal and the vice hold working against her.

Snow smirked. "Taking you down with me."

Since Regina was powerless, she could hardly teleport herself to safety, or fireball Snow's hand to make her let go of her dress. As Snow was pulled further into the portal, she felt herself being taken along for the ride. The last thing Regina saw before the portal took her under was Charming and his entire guard running towards them. 

* * *

The trip through the portal was very strange. As much as she was loathe to admit it, Snow's panicked and furious presence was somewhat comforting.

"You have a lot of explaining to do, Regina!" she heard at one point. At another, she heard words that sent a chill through her. "I can't _believe_ I wished for you to find your happy ending!"

And then she was alone. At one point, Regina felt the skirt of her dress rip, and she no longer heard Snow's scared whimpers and accusations.

She was headed to a place with no happy endings. What would be lying in store for her?


	2. Brave New World

"Alright Henry! Just a few more shots and we can go home," Emma said, looking through her lens.

The scene was magnificent. The Washington Square Park Archway was in the background, and in the foreground, the Fountain stood tall, with children and adults alike wading through it. The evening summer sky lit up the entire place in a colourful medley of reds, oranges, and purple. The place was relatively calm, so it was perfect for her picture. She had been commissioned to take some pictures of iconic New York City landmarks, and she was happy to oblige. She left this location for last, wanting to get the perfect picture to do it justice. It was one of her favourite places in the city, so anything less than her best just wouldn't do.

Behind her, her 10-year-old son was sitting patiently, holding on to her camera bag tightly. Henry was always willing to accompany his mother on her photography shoots, but now he was beginning to tire due to the early start on their day. She had seen him try to subtly rub his eyes.

She always took multiple pictures, and later she'd edit the people out using her software before handing it off. Right now, she was halfway through the succession, when something peculiar happened.

What looked like a mess of fabric and hair was climbing out of the fountain. Emma was positive that that, whatever they – or it – were, had not been there five seconds ago. She had photographic proof.

Curious whispers and cautious exclamations filled the air.

"Mom, look!" Henry piped up, as if she wasn't well aware of the Grudge-esque creature currently waddling through her shoot. Her heart leapt to her throat when she saw Henry run towards the thing, still holding the bag.

"Henry, get back here!" As her command fell on deaf ears, she cursed. She couldn't leave her camera unattended, that was a recipe for theft in this city, but she also had to keep her son away from _whateve_ r that was. Thankfully, her camera had just finished, so she grabbed her tripod-mounted camera, and moved closer to Henry, who was just now approaching the creature.

"Hi! I'm Henry, what's your name?" If there was one thing that Emma had to give to the kid, it was that he had never been afraid of monsters. Countless other things scared him shitless, but not monsters.

"Henry, go stand by the tripod, let me handle this," Emma gently ordered, setting down her equipment a few paces behind where he currently stood. This time, Henry listened, heading to the tripod, his hand coiling around one of the tripod's legs as he had done so for countless years when he was younger and Emma had to make sure he was nearby and wouldn’t wander off.

Emma slowly approached the mass that was still dripping onto the cement. "Hi there, are you okay?"

"Of course I'm fine," the very feminine and very exasperated voice responded.

* * *

Regina felt thoroughly embarrassed. If she found Snow again, she would throttle her. She was soaked to the bone, and her hair was a mess, quite a lot of it was plastered onto her face and dripping onto her shoulders, chilling her. As if all of that wasn't enough, she had lost both of her heeled slippers, and her dress skirt was torn from where Snow had grabbed and subsequently ripped away while they were in the portal, and the rest was dirty. Trying to take some of the discomfort away, she shook her arms a bit to get some of that soggy feeling out of her body. If only she had her magic, then she'd be able to dry herself with a flick of her hand. And probably pulverize the insipid woman near her that was talking.

"Sorry, just asking, you seem pretty drenched," the woman was saying.

Regina raised her hands to part the soggy hair covering her face. She wanted to give her a proper glare without having her soaked strands taking away from the effect. Clearly she had no idea who she was dealing with, for no one spoke to Regina with such insolence. Once she managed to clear her face, she was very confused.

She was in a park – that much was clear. The blonde in front of her, who she assumed was the woman speaking to her, was dressed very strangely. She was wearing trousers made of a foreign blue material, and an eye-sore of a leather jacket; the only normal thing in that combo was the white tunic underneath the jacket – even though it was a bit tight for regular standards – and the brown leather boots with laces. Though the strange garments she wore didn't take away from her beauty, Regina noted to herself.

"Are you okay?" Another voice asked. Beside the woman, was a little boy… Henry, he said his name was. She internally smiled at the name, remembering her father. But this boy was clutching a strange contraption made out of very strange materials. He was tilting his head and looking at her curiously.

"Yes. Where am I?" Regina asked, looking around her. This place was alien to her. Where had Rumpelstiltskin's bean sent her?

"New York City?" the woman responded, seeming confused by Regina's question.

The answer still left Regina baffled. She had never heard of this place. Regina was assuming that the portal connected to this fountain, and had closed up after she had come through, so there was no chance for her to return. Snow was nowhere to be seen, which meant that when they parted, her nemesis was catapulted forward, and had probably arrived to this strange land earlier than her. Savagely, she hoped Snow had been mauled.

She glanced around, to the strange things protruding towards the sky in the distance. They looked like very peculiar castles, or towers. There were no spires, nor roofs that she could see, just flat panes of what looked like glass. In the park, people were walking around in garments just as strange as those of the woman and child in front of her.

"I see. And how would I go about finding someone well-versed in spells here?" she asked with a haughty tone. The effect was probably lost due to her less-than intimidating and dishevelled appearance.

"Spells?" the woman asked. "Lady, I don't know what medieval con you popped out of, but if this is part of an act, I am really not interested."

Regina's eyes flashed dangerously, tampering down her confusion at some of the words. "How dare you refer to me with such disrespect? Do you have any idea who I am, or what I am capable of?"

The woman didn't seem at all intimidated. In fact, she seemed to be smirking of all things, crossing her arms in front of her. "Nope. Haven't the faintest idea. And what's the worst you could do? Are you going to punish me, your Majesty?"

With a huff, Regina clenched her hands at her sides. Oh if she had her magic, the blonde would see just how much she'd make her suffer. But currently, she was powerless, so she was going to do something she seldom did: walk away.

* * *

"Well then, good riddance," Emma muttered as she saw the strange woman leave. "Alright Henry, let me pack things up, and we can get going. Will you pass me the bag?"

Henry diligently removed the single sling Lowepro bag and handed it to her. "Do you think she'll be alright?" he asked.

"I don't know Henry. She's probably lost and in a bad mood because of that. Or she's angry that we didn't get into her game," Emma distractedly responded, unclipping the camera from the tripod, and removing the base attachment screwed into the base of the camera.

"Why didn't you play with her?" Henry asked.

Emma didn't yet want to explain to Henry that she just didn't really feel like dealing with impromptu pranksters after such a long day. Plus there was a small chance she was a veritable nutcase. "Because we have to get home," she said instead.

Two minutes later, she had the bag slung over her shoulder, she was closing the tripod and making it portable, the last step before they were wrapped up. "Alright, now does my wonderful assistant want to carry the tripod home?"

She turned around, confused when she hadn't heard anything, expecting to at least see Henry jump up and down excitedly, but he wasn't there. "Henry!?" she called out, trying not to panic.

Looking to the other side of the fountain, she saw Henry speaking to the woman from before, who was crouching to be at his eye-level. Crazy prankster or not, she at least had a way with kids.

Making her way over, she began to hear what Henry was saying.

"…I'll ask, but mom's pretty nice, she lets her friends and other people chill all the time."

"Henry?" Emma asked, her free hand on her hip. "What have I told you about running off?"

He had the decency to look guilty about leaving without telling her. "Sorry, mom. But I saw Regina was still walking around, and she seemed lost! Besides, it's getting dark out, and she has nowhere to go, so I was telling her she can stay with us! You can give her the spare bedroom you give An when Jas kicks her out, and for the people who need help!"

This was not what Emma was expecting, but Henry was looking at her with his puppy-dog eyes, something she was generally powerless against. Looking once more to the woman, she seemed a lot less intimidating when she was crouched down beside Henry, rather than trying to look like she was a fearsome medieval queen with the attitude to match. She supposed she had housed stranger people, like that crazy creep, Sidney Glass.

"Alright, I suppose we can help house her tonight. Now come on, let's get going." Emma held her free hand out to the woman that she surmised was named Regina, according to what Henry had said. "By the way, I'm Emma."

Regina glanced at the hand curiously for a moment, then up at Emma herself, before taking it, and getting up with her help, not saying a word, but flashing the smallest of grateful smiles. Together they began to walk towards their new destination, this family's home. She felt a hand slide into her own, and saw Henry smiling at her, almost smug.

Emma had looked back to see that her son and Regina were following, and she had to smile a bit at their joined hands. Although Emma was generally cautious, she was a generous soul, and as such, she liked to help Jas with her welfare organization. If it meant lending her extra bedroom to someone who needed to get back on their feet, she was more than glad to do so. Only once had it led to a problem and that was with the aforementioned Sidney Glass. Otherwise most people were quite decent. She had even struck up some friendships with the people she had housed. Like Lacey, an ex-alcoholic that was now the owner of her own bookshop.

Most of the people that spent time in her house had previously been screened, so she knew they were trustworthy people. Regina however, was quite literally a random stranger that had crawled out of a fountain. But Emma had good instincts, and Regina didn't seem to strike her as the insane sort. Angry and potentially stir crazy perhaps, but not insane.

Regina, meanwhile, was looking around in wonder. This was such a different place than the Enchanted Forest. There were lampposts that held a strange light source, lighting smooth roadways ahead of them.

"Alright, here we go. Henry, can you take this?" Emma asked as she handed him her bag and the tripod for him to hold during the ride. When he took it, she went to open the passenger side door, popping the seat forward so Henry could get in the back. Usually she'd let him ride shotgun, but Henry understood that it made sense for Regina to go in the front.

Once Henry was settled in, and the passenger seat was once more upright, she turned to Regina. "Well, are you coming?"

Regina approached the car, an expression of distaste marring her face. "What the hell is this?"

"A car?" Emma responded, unsure what Regina was referring to.

She decided that asking what a car was would only lead to a headache. So, Regina wrinkled her nose and observed, "This looks like a metal deathtrap. I'm not getting in it."

Emma glanced back at the Bug. Sure it had seen better days but it served her purpose. "Oh come on, it's not that bad. It'll get us to where we're going, so sit down."

"Very well." It wasn't like she had much of a choice. Sure – she could just try to go it her way alone, but she was lost, confused, and without her magic. She was in no position to deal with so many changes, no matter how composed she always made herself out to be. Plus this family seemed kind enough, and Regina wasn't about to turn down a charitable soul in this bizarre world. Once seated inside, Emma closed the door behind her, and made her way to the other side, sitting beside her, a round ringed object of sorts in front of her seat.

Finding that she could no longer hold her curiosity in, she asked, "What exactly is a car?"

Emma turned to Regina and frowned. "You're really going to keep up the medieval roleplaying here? Alright, it's a carriage without horses."

"Then what pulls it forward?" Regina asked, frowning at the strange logic.

"You'll see. First, seatbelts." Behind her, Henry was strapping himself down with something wide and gray, grinning up at them once he was done. When she didn't move, Emma huffed. "Alright lady, this is how a seatbelt works."

Before Regina could react, the woman was stretching across her to reach for something that was near her right shoulder, Emma's left hand clutching Regina’s left thigh. If Regina hadn't felt so exhausted, she'd find the hand to be presumptuous of her. Then, Emma was moving away, her right hand clutching something similar to what was now around Henry's torso. It resembled the belt and sash people wore in her land, but this connected to a contraption by her left hip, rather than loop around her back.

"There we go." Emma put her own as well with an audible click, and turned on the engine.

Regina let out a small yelp with the sound of the engine revving. Emma turned to look at her with an amused face. "Lady, you need to get out more."

Next thing Regina knew, the strange carriage was moving of its own accord, guided by the wheel-like object that the woman was rotating.

This was a very strange world indeed.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, they were pulling up into one of those bizarre towers, entering into a strange cave of sorts in Regina's opinion. Except it wasn't made of stone or rock. This place was also well-lit, by the same kind of lights on the lampposts.

Emma parked and then shut the engine. "See, in one piece. Now come on, let's go."

"Uhm," Regina began. "How do I remove this?"

Emma nearly burst out laughing at how baffled Regina seemed with the seatbelt. Henry meanwhile was trying to hide his own snickers behind his hand. Regina seemed to be tugging the diagonal band away from her body as if that would take it away. "Hang on, let go of it."

Regina followed her instructions, and then Emma said, "Alright, now watch."

She watched as Emma pressed a red button in the contraption by her left hip, and then leant forward to let the seatbelt go without smacking her. "See? Now it's free. Careful that it doesn't hit you."

Once freed, she turned to the door. It seemed to look mostly like the carriage doors in her land. Grabbing the handle, she pulled, and the door opened.

"You're getting the hang of it!" Emma chuckled, getting out of the car herself, and pulling her seat down so Henry could get out.

Soon enough, Regina was trailing behind the little family towards something called 'elevators'.

When the doors opened, she stared at the small room with mirrors in confusion. "What is this supposed to be?"

By now, Emma was taking Regina's confusion in stride, and rather than answer, she moved behind her and gently pushed her into what was better described as a large box. Henry got in and pressed a button with the number 10, barely reaching, but he grinned as the button seemingly lit up. The doors closed, and the box seemed to hum as it began to move.

"How…" Regina breathed, her fingers ghosting over the other buttons beside it. She pressed number 8, and saw it light up. With a small grin, she tried for another number, 1, seeing the star beside it.

"Mom," Henry said, turning to her. "How come Regina gets to press all the buttons?"

Emma, who had been busy checking her phone and answering An's messages, cancelling their little get together for tonight due to 'some issues that came up', looked up and practically jumped to pull Regina's hands away from the rapidly growing collection of glowing buttons on the elevator call panel.

Right at that moment, they had reached the first floor, the apartment's main level. The doors opened with a _ding!_ , and Regina stared in awe at how the outside of this strange room was now different than where they had just come from. "Remarkable!"

"Yeah, but maybe next time, try not to press for every single floor?" Emma requested, pressing the 'Door Close' button.

Regina watched the doors close once more, and focused on her reflection in front of her. She looked like a veritable mess, no wonder they didn't fear her. She barely felt like herself. Her hair was a wild tangle, it resembled a bird's nest, the slowly drying locks adding to the effect of the straw commonly found within it. Her makeup was either smudged or wiped clean off, and her dress was the worst. Many of the jewels that decorated it were now missing, and the fabric was dirty and torn. And of course, she felt short without her heels, not to mention that her stocking-clad feet had stepped on quite a few questionable substances. She hoped she'd be able to draw up a bath soon.

When they finally reached the 10th floor, they stepped out onto the hallway; walking forward, they reached number 108. Emma pulled out some keys from her camera bag, and opened the front door, stepping inside and then moving aside to let Henry and Regina in, turning on the lights as well. Once everyone had entered, she locked the door again, and set her bag down by the couch. It was a spacious enough apartment, the main area was open-concept, the living room bleeding into the kitchen and dining area with big floor to ceiling windows and a decent-sized balcony. To the left was a hallway that led to Emma's office, the laundry room, and Emma and Henry's bedrooms, each with their en-suite bathrooms. To the right was the spare bedroom that Emma loaned to Jas' clients, and An on occasion. It used to have a rather spacious walk-in closet, but Emma had refurbished it into a bathroom, and installed a wardrobe. Since the people staying in the other bedroom were temporary, they had no need for such a large storage space.

"Alright, you probably want a shower. So I'll go get you some pyjamas and you can get out of that dress. Wait here for a second and I'll go get them," Emma rambled, heading to her room in search for the female guest pyjamas. "Henry, place an order for the pizza place and get our usual, it's kinda late to start cooking," she called back.

Regina was left to stand by the door when Henry headed further inside and grabbed yet another strange contraption, pressing numbers before speaking into it!

"Here you go," Emma returned after a few minutes, holding out a neatly folded pile of fresh clothes. "I wasn't sure on the underwear, so if you don't mind, you should still use your own, and tomorrow we can figure things out."

When her words fell on deaf ears, since Regina was intently watching Henry place the pizza order, Emma snapped her fingers in front of her. "Hey, you still with me?"

Regina turned to face Emma, and flashed a sheepish smile. "Sorry, yes."

Taking the clothes, Regina noted that the fabric seemed much softer than most of the clothes she was used to. "Alright, the bathroom's through here. Do you think you know how to use it?"

She was prepared to say yes, of course she knew how to use it, and that Emma could bring the warm water in, until she actually entered the room and found herself completely baffled.

Seeing Regina's expression, Emma sighed. Of course she didn't know how to use it. Quickly taking the clothes from Regina's arms and depositing them on the vanity’s countertop, she set out to explain the toilet – "You mean there is no outhouse?" – and the shower – "Water is just automatically sent in at the right temperature?" – and Emma calmly responded everything using layman's terms to not further confuse her new guest. She also pointed out the soap, the shampoo, the conditioner, and the loofah already prepared.

"Any questions?"

"None, thank you," Regina said initially. Thinking better, she added, "Actually, I could use a favour."

"Okay?" Emma prompted.

"Can you undo the back of my dress? I'm afraid it's a bit hard to remove by myself."

Emma certainly wasn't expecting that, but nodded. She had helped many a fellow woman to zip their dresses, so this should have been a piece of cake. But of course the lady had to be wearing a period dress using period technology, in other words: with buttons and laces.

After a solid seven minutes wherein her hands kept getting tangled in a strange version of cat's cradle, she had finally undone the dress, only to be faced with a corset. "You really went all out with this costume," Emma muttered as she tried her best to figure out how this corset worked.

Regina frowned. "Costume? This is no costume."

Right, she was dedicated to her art, clearly. "Whatever you say. Alright, here we go, everything's undone."

"Thank you, once more."

"Shout if you need anything," Emma said as she left, closing the door behind her. "We'll leave some pizza for you."

Regina figured that, right now, she didn't need to know what pizza was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Methinks Emma needs to get those instincts of hers checked out.


	3. Adjusting

"So, kid, what do you think of this Regina lady?" Emma asked, plopping down on the couch beside Henry, who was playing a video game while they waited for the pizza to arrive.

"She's pretty cool. I think she's sad though," Henry responded, not tearing his eyes away from the screen where he was currently battling a monster.

Sad wasn't the exact word Emma would use to describe her. Plumb _crazy_ would be more adequate. Either that or she was really dedicated to her craft of being a medieval lady in modern day New York. "Well, I'll figure out what to do with her tomorrow. For now, I just have to hope she won't destroy the bathroom."

Henry grinned. "Are we going to have to wait for her to finish to eat? Because I'm hungry."

Emma shook her head. "Nah, when the pizza arrives you can get started. You're going to start school tomorrow, so you'll need to be up bright and early."

"Don't remind me," the young boy groaned. He was starting grade 5, and while it was exciting, he wasn't particularly fond of the early starts.

"And don't forget to lock your door tonight. I don't want to find out she's an axe murderer."

* * *

By the time Regina had gotten out of the shower, she felt much more like herself. She still was unsure what this 'loofah' was, but guessing from the string attached to the strange item resembling a flower, she supposed it was an intricate hair tie. But she'd leave that for last. Towelling herself dry, she found the plush fabric to be so very comfortable, it was surreal almost. For such a strange world, they had many wonderful things from what she was seeing.

Grabbing the clothes Emma had given her, she remembered that there was no underwear included, and that she had to use her own. Pulling her old undergarments on, she smiled at the familiarity. She found a pair of warm and thick socks, slipped them on, and found that they were warming her feet quite nicely. Unfolding the pyjamas, she saw that it seemed like they were for men, with the traditional long pants and sleeved shirt. Oh well, it wasn't like she was in the position to be very picky right now, pulling the pants on. They were stretchy, and fell loosely around her legs; she discovered that she was enjoying them a lot. The shirt was no different, and as she finished buttoning the blouse – leaving three buttons generously undone – she looked at herself in the mirror. Without makeup and her dress, she looked much softer.

She was actually finding herself to be more subdued in this world, and less inclined to automatically think of violence. Perhaps it was the lack of magic, or something in this world's air. Except regarding Snow White. She was definitely still interested in murdering Snow White. Grabbing the loofah, she tied it around her long hair, wondering if this was some sort of strange custom. With her now useless dress in her arms, she stepped out of the bathroom, padding her way to the main room.

Henry didn't seem to be there anymore, and Emma was staring at yet another strange contraption showing a moving image to her, while voices spoke.

"Is that your magic mirror?" Regina asked. She saw Emma visibly jump, startled by her quiet entrance.

The blonde didn't answer, instead she shut off the images and sound with the click of yet another button on a device of sorts. Did everything function with buttons in this place?

"Come on, we should probably have a chat before I go stir crazy," Emma said once she was standing near Regina, and beckoned her over to the kitchen.

"What should I do with my dress?" Regina asked, holding up the lump of fabric that used to be on her body. Thankfully it wasn't any of her favourite dresses, so she wasn't particularly sad to see it go.

Emma, for her part, thought that it would be wise to not get rid of what looked like a pretty expensive dress, so she fished for a bag from the plastic bag dispenser and shook it a bit to get it open. "Here, you can use this and maybe tomorrow we can see about getting it fixed."

Regina took the bag and found that the strange material was quite sturdy and held her dress inside nicely. "We can get rid of it, it's of no sentimental value to me."

"But you must've spent a lot of time making it…"

"Making it? I pay seamstresses to make them. Besides I have plenty more."

Emma blinked. This lady was going to be the death of her, she was sure of it. "How about we start that talk? Here, sit down, and I'll serve you some pizza. Two slices okay?"

Regina still had no idea what a pizza was, but if the normal was to eat two slices, then she'd just accept. "Very well."

Once they were seated and each had a plate of steaming pizza and a full glass of water in front of her, Emma began. "So, Regina…can I call you Regina?"

With a shrug, Regina acquiesced. "I suppose."

"You suppose? What other name do you go by?" Emma asked, raising an eyebrow as she went to grab her glass of water for a drink.

"Many. My official title is Queen Regina, which is the adequate and respectful way to address me, but most people know me better as the Evil Queen."

With absolutely no class at all, Emma choked on her water, coughing slightly.

"So you do know me?" Regina asked with a raise of her eyebrows. It seemed she clearly hadn't travelled that far then.

"I know _of_ you," Emma clarified hoarsely, trying to clear her throat from the water that went down the wrong pipe. "I just wasn't aware you were playing a specific fictional character."

"Playing? I'm not playing anything, and I am certainly no fictional character!" Regina countered, indignant that she'd be reduced to something so trivial.

Emma gave a chuckle. "I beg to differ, give me a minute."

Regina watched as Emma got up and made her way to a bookshelf on the other side of the room, near where the magical mirror was. It was filled with what looked like books. Though they were somewhat strange. They all had the same height, and had one of two thicknesses, thick or thin. The only thing that was mostly different were the very colourful spines. Finding what she was looking for, Emma pulled out one of the thicker books. Returning, she sat down and held it out for her to grab. "See? Fictional."

Taking the hard object – which, now that she saw up close, was a very peculiar book, the pages were all hidden – Regina saw the title and let out a small growl. 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' it read. "Who is this Walt Disney?"

"He's the one who created this version of the story," Emma said.

"And who is everyone in this picture?" Regina demanded, growing a bit miffed.

Emma once more got out of her chair and made her way to stand behind Regina, going to point everyone out until – "What in the world?"

Regina turned to face the other woman, finding that she was standing much closer than she had expected. "What is it?"

Biting her lip to not burst out laughing, Emma asked, "Are you using the loofah as a hair tie?"

"Yes? Is that not what it's for?" Regina responded.

"Oh my god Regina, the loofah is to help scrub your body with soap!" Emma responded, chuckling a bit.

"You don't have sponges?"

Emma nodded, heading to the sink and grabbing a bright blue sponge. "Yeah, but loofahs are better for bathing. It's easier on the skin and is more resistant and durable."

"I see," Regina said, grabbing the loofah and yanking it from her hair, allowing her locks to now cascade freely down her back, and she combed a hand through it, feeling that it was still wet.

"Sorry if I crushed your dreams, but I didn't want you to be caught in a dingle hopper moment," Emma explained, coming once more to stand near Regina.

"Dingle hopper?" Regina queried.

"Never mind. So, the cover." Emma made her way closer, and started pointing around to the various people pictured. "That's Snow White in the middle. That there to the side is Prince Charming, looking all regal on his horse. Over there are the dwarfs, up on the top is you," – Regina noted that at least her likeness wasn't that bad, if a bit stylized – "and that's you too."

Emma had dragged her finger down the cover to rest on the old hag. "Me?"

"Well, you turn yourself into an old lady to trick Snow White to eat the apple, but yeah, that's you."

Regina glanced at the cover once more. Snow looked somewhat like herself, Charming and the dwarfs could use plenty of work, and she wasn't too fond now of her older presentation. "And in this…story, how does it end?"

"Well, Snow White gets saved by her Prince Charming, and they live happily ever after."

"And what of me?" Regina insists, noticing the lack of information regarding her.

"You died," Emma bluntly states.

Regina narrowed her eyes at the cover. "Then this Walt Disney man is a fool and a terrible storyteller. How do I get in touch with him to complain?"

Emma smiled softly. "Tough luck, he's dead."

"Oh." She tried to open the book, but found that inside, there were no pages, only a black object. It was relatively light, but it made a sound when she moved it. "What's this?"

"A VHS," Emma said, offering no further explanations.

Regina's head was beginning to ache unbearably from all the information she had been given and didn't understand. She considered herself to be quite intelligent, but this was ridiculous.

"So," Emma drawled, going to once more sit by her chair. "Are you going to eat your pizza?"

The smell was enticing, so Regina picked it up like she saw Emma do, and took a bit from the tip. It was actually quite tasty. "This pizza is wonderful. Please send my regards to the chef."

"Okay, I have to ask, why in the world are you still in character? I get it, you're super dedicated, and you pull off an amazing medieval lady and Evil Queen. But you can drop the act, okay? I promise I won't blab to your fellow LARPers that you broke character. Or are you recording this as a new reality tv show? Because if so, you should really ask before doing this stunt."

Regina blinked, mouth somewhat open as she had paused mid-bite, growing increasingly confused with the words Emma was using. Putting the pizza down and swallowing, Regina rested her hands together and said, "I have absolutely no idea what half those words meant, but from what I do know, I will explain."

So she got into her story of trying to get rid of Snow White, and of her attempts being foiled by Prince Charming, even with Maleficent's help.

"Hang on, _Maleficent_ exists in your story?" Emma interrupted.

"Yes, now please let me continue." Regina also told of her last-minute idea to send Snow to a land without happy endings, the deal she made with Rumpelstiltskin. She saw Emma about to interrupt once more, so she gave her a pointed glare. She finished by explaining her attempt to trick Snow White, but getting pulled into the portal. "Now I am here."

Emma wasn't sure whether she should be impressed at the intricate and creative tale, weirded out by how deeply Regina seemed to believe in this – so much so that Emma didn't even feel her lie-detector ping – or be scared shitless and call the nearest mental hospital. "So, do you have any proof?"

Regina sighed. "Right now, not particularly. Is the dress not enough? Or are women haphazardly appearing in fountains wearing medieval garb a common occurrence here?"

"Well, not in the way you're referring," Emma noted. She supposed it'd make sense, no one was that good of an actor, or that dedicated to her craft. But to think that she was the Evil Queen…. "Okay, you know what? I am really _very_ tired, I've had a long day, and this isn't making things easier. Let's just head to bed, and tomorrow we'll see. Your room is over there," – she pointed to where Regina had exited after showering – "and Henry and I will be over there. Our doors will be locked so no funny business, alright?"

After a nod, Emma finished up her dinner and put her plates in the sink. She'd deal with them tomorrow. Heading to her room, she didn't even bother to check what Regina was doing.

* * *

When morning came, and her alarm clock chimed, it took Emma a moment to figure out what had happened last night. Right, Regina, the potential Evil Queen or mad LARPer. Picking up her phone, she decided that she could use some advice, and decided either Jas or An would be best for her troubles. Her two neighbours were quite the inseparable pair, having been married for more than five years. Of course, they still had their spats, leading to An sometimes staying over at their place – usually in the guest bedroom, but if she was housing someone, she took the sofa.

Not that Emma minded lending her home to her. An and Emma got along famously, having a similar sense of humour and interests, though their friendship did have a rocky start. They had met through Jas, who had begun to date An seven years ago. Emma and Jas had been neighbours for a while by that point, and had blossomed into a nice friendship, so Emma had been quite excited to meet her neighbour's girlfriend.

Of course Emma had had to stick her foot into her mouth by asking why An's name had only one N. In her poor defense, she had been dealing with the tail end of Henry's terrible two's phase, so her social skills had taken a dive. It turned out that An's full first name was Mulan, named after the iconic warrior. However, despite the honour that she felt at the inspired name and honoured her heritage, it hadn't helped her during her formative years when she was teased relentlessly for it. Hence the official shortening of her name. She only allowed close friends to call her Mulan, everyone else just knew her as An with one N.

_'Hey, do either of you have a minute to come by here?'_

_'Sorry, we're kinda in a rush. What's up?'_ was Jas' quick reply.

_'Long story short, Henry and I brought home this lady that does one hella convincing medieval lady act, except she doesn't think she's acting…'_

She could practically hear the laughter coming from the place next door. _'Mulan's asking where you found her, she sounds like quite a riot.'_

Of course they would find it funny; her neighbours were quite the jokesters.

_'Make it a nightmare.'_

_'Well I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out. But anyway, we have to get going, we can come by your house tonight to help?'_

She responded with a _‘yes’_ deciding that having them see Regina would probably make more sense than continuing to explain via text. With a sigh, she put her phone down and frowned. She was smelling breakfast…Henry wouldn't have woken up early on the first day of school to make breakfast himself, would he?

Opening her door, she heard voices coming from the kitchen. Walking out, she was faced with Henry sitting by the table, talking animatedly with Regina, who was wearing an apron and actually _cooking_.

"Uh, what's going on here?" Emma asked, her voice still heavy with sleep.

"Regina's cooking breakfast, and she's actually pretty good at it!" Henry explained, and at a closer glance, she saw that Henry already had food on his plate. Pancakes. No wonder he seemed so excited.

Turning to Regina, she saw her give Emma an apologetic smile. "Would you like some as well?"

Figuring it couldn't hurt to try, Emma nodded. "Sure."

Five minutes later, and Emma had to agree with Henry's conclusion. Regina had a knack for cooking. "Alright kid, you have to get ready. Your grandma is going to be here any minute and she probably would like it if you were ready."

Henry did as he was asked, and put his dirty dishes on the countertop beside the sink before heading back to his room. Regina shucked off the apron and headed to the table with her own plate of pancakes.

"I have to ask," Emma began after swallowing a mouthful from her stack of pancakes, "did you get modern day skills overnight, or is this you subtly telling me that you were joking around last night?"

"Not exactly." Next thing Emma knew, Regina was standing up and going to the kitchen counter, picking up a large and thin hardcover book. She recognized it immediately. It was Henry's old visual dictionary. Beside it was her bulkier and ancient actual dictionary, and nearby was the pile of instruction manuals for all the appliances and electronics she owned, which she had kept handy in her bookshelf.

"Did you spend the entire night just researching?" Emma asked, gaping.

Regina blinked once before nodding. "I also watched the movie. It's even worse than I imagined. There was so much singing!"

Whipping her head around, Emma saw that the plastic case for the Snow White movie was on the coffee table in front of the TV. "That's Disney for you. Movies are usually all about singing. Just make sure you don't mention Frozen in front of Henry."

"Frozen?" Regina asked.

Right on cue, Henry appeared, a wicked grin on his face. When he began to belch out 'Let It Go' Emma sunk her head into her hands with a groan. Before Regina could make sense of the situation, the door opened to reveal an older blonde woman, who was flinching as she came in.

"Honestly Henry, there are so many better songs for you to sing along to!"

Emma slowly raised her head to look at the newcomer. "It's hopeless, you know that?"

"Well of course, but I can at least _try_ , after all, that movie would've been a lot better if it stuck more to the Snow Queen story."

"You only say that because of your ice cream store," Emma riposted. Turning to Regina, she said, "Meet my mother, Ingrid."

Technically, Ingrid was her adopted mother, but after being her mother for a good portion of her life, and considering all she had done for her, Emma felt that she deserved the official title.

"Oh! I hadn't seen that you had a guest, Emma." That tone was code for 'who is she, and why didn't you tell me about her?'

"Mom, meet Regina. We met her yesterday in the park, and she's staying with us while she figures some things out." Giving her a pointed look, Emma pleaded with her mother to not make this situation awkward.

Ingrid just winked at Emma, and turned to Henry, who had finally finished the final note. "Alright Elsa, let's get you to school."

Henry grinned at his grandmother, before running to his mother and hugging her middle. "Bye mom, see you later."

"Have fun at school, and remember, everyone's probably just as nervous as you are!"

He nodded, and then began to make his way to the door, but turned at the last minute and waved back. "Bye Regina!"

Regina was shocked for a few moments before tentatively waving her hand. "Goodbye."


	4. Makeover

After the door shut, Emma turned back to Regina. "So here's the thing. I need to finish a project for this afternoon, so I won't really be able to help you out until later. Would you be okay with waiting?"

Regina nodded. Then she looked down at herself. "Would it be possible for me to receive a change of clothes?"

Emma's eyes widened in realization that her guest had nothing to wear but a pair of pyjamas. "Right! Sorry. Here, come with me."

She followed her hostess down the hall and into what must be Emma's room, and stopped in front of a huge closet.

"Here you go. Just pick what you want, and you can take it to your room and change."

Wanting to leave Regina to choose her clothes in peace, Emma grabbed her home clothes from the peg on the closet door and went to the bathroom to change and do her morning routine. Once she came back out, the closet door was closed, and she saw that the guest bedroom door was closed as well. Heading to the couch, she grabbed her camera bag – having foolishly left it there last night, rather than securing it in her office – and began to head back to her office to load the pictures to her computer.

"What do you think?" Emma paused as a voice sounded behind her, and she turned to look at Regina, who had emerged from her room, now dressed.

"Uhm…" she would've provided a coherent answer if she could, but right now, she found herself speechless, gaping slightly. She clearly was quite beautiful when she didn't look like she had just crawled out of the Washington Square Park Fountain.  Regina had apparently gone for one of the more formal clothes she owned, a light grey skirt, dress shirt, and blazer combination matching in colour. Although their body types were different, that particular combo had never fit Emma properly, but on Regina, it looked like it had been made for her.

Regina seemed to take Emma's lack of answer as negative. "Am I wearing this wrong?"

Emma was quick to clarify, "No! No, it looks just perfect on you."

The smile she got in return made Emma's day. "Thank you."

"So, are you here to stay?" Emma asked, not wanting to lock herself up in her office quite yet. She moved the camera bag to settle on her shoulder, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

Regina tilted her head slightly and frowned. "What do you mean?"

"It's just, yesterday you were wanting to head back to your home, but now you don't seem to be in a hurry, and you're researching, so I'm wondering if you're going to stay here in New York?"

"I would have left, but need to find some potioneer or practitioner of the magical arts to help me find a way home, since right now I am without magic. I was hoping these books would help, but it seems that I have come up empty in that regard."

Emma sighed. She should have guessed that this would be complicated. "Sorry to break it to you, Regina, but there's no magic in this world. And even if there was, there's definitely no stores like that."

"I see. Then I suppose I'll have to wait until my magic returns and try it then. For now, I'll continue my research of this world while you work," Regina settled on, turning to where the dictionaries and manuals were.

With an awkward nod, Emma left her to it, heading to her office and starting her computer, preparing the camera to transfer the files from yesterday. Meanwhile she grabbed her laptop and began to work on finishing her other project due today.

When lunchtime was upon them, Emma decided that she would be courteous and see if her guest needed any food. She found Regina looking through her movie collection with interest, a pile of cases already in her arms.

"Gonna make it a movie night?" Emma asked with a grin.

Regina was a bit startled at Emma's sudden arrival, but when she caught herself, she smiled and nodded. "As I understand, it's a great way to familiarize myself with this world's culture."

Emma figured she had found the book on immersing in American culture that she had gotten for Marian, a young Belizean woman who had found herself alone as a single mother and needed to get her life back on track. She had been ecstatic at getting to stay with Emma, finding much about their situation similar in some ways, and using Emma's experience to find her way in life and help her find the confidence to know that things would work out just fine. Henry and Roland had gotten along wonderfully, and still got along famously whenever their mothers would meet up.

"It's a good start," she agreed. "Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to get lunch?"

After debating for a moment, she nodded. "Yes, that sounds wonderful. I also wanted to ask…."

"Yeah?"

"Since it seems I won't be able to get home right away, would you be willing to point me in the direction of a seamstress where I can buy more clothes? I do not wish to keep bothering you for more, and your wardrobe didn’t seem to include very many variations of these kind of clothes."

She did have a point. If this was the kind of thing Regina liked to wear, then she'd be hard-pressed to find enough to last her a week since Emma wasn't exactly the fancy clothes wearing type. "Yeah, you know what, why don't we go now? We can catch a bite to eat there and then you can shop."

Regina gave a slow and confused nod. Such a bizarre twist on the English language. "All right. I'd need shoes first."

Ten minutes later she had found a pair of heels that suited her – wherein Regina had donned stockings beforehand – and they were off.

* * *

"Alright, this is the Rockefeller Center. You'll probably find everything you're looking for here," Emma said, moving her hands as if presenting the plaza to her. They were standing on the famous sidewalk of 5th Avenue, looking right down the walkway to the tall skyscraper. "Now behind me is Saks. They're a bit more expensive, but it might have your style, it's up to you."

Regina nodded, hoping that she wouldn't get lost. "How will I pay for things?"

Emma held a finger out, and wagged it at her. "Good point." Fishing around her laptop bag, Emma handed her two plastic rectangles. "These are prepaid credit cards with 200 bucks on them each. Do you know how they work?"

When she shook her head no, Emma said, "Alright, let me show you."

They crossed the road and made their way down the walkway until they reached the plaza, which had an open terrace below. Going down the stairs, they arrived at an outdoor restaurant, the Rock Center Cafe. They ordered and ate their food in silence, since Regina was absolutely entranced with everything around her – the fountain, the statue, the buildings, the people – and Emma was more than glad to contently watch her discover the city. Once they were done, Emma paid, showing Regina exactly how it was done. "Sometimes they take your card and you don't have to do anything but sign the paper they give you."

At Regina's baffling reaction to having to sign something, Emma explained the custom of being handed a receipt, wherein the customer signed the paper to verify that yes, everything was as it was and they were confirming the payment. "If you have any questions, I'll be sitting on one of these benches here and you can just come over and ask."

Emma finished by explaining clothing sizes and how shopping worked in this world, how to find the prices, and how to budget the cost of things. "I know clothing can get expensive here, so please keep prices in mind."

Emma would have accompanied her – even though she herself loathed shopping most of the time – but she had to finish her project. She would've finished it earlier, but her client had been particularly indecisive with what he wanted, but still needed everything done today. So she gave Regina the prepaid cards, and settled herself down to work in the walkway, sitting on the wide ledge down the middle. The cards had been provided by Jas' organization; with her welfare program, Jas had quickly learnt that her clients enjoyed to shop as an act of getting back on their feet and regaining their independence. But since the banks weren't too keen on her constant withdrawals of cash, she settled for prepaid cards.

Coming from a family of wealthy parents, Jasmine had never really seen poverty close up. But for her community service requirement in high school, she had volunteered at a soup kitchen, and her eyes were opened to what was really going on. So with her older brother Rajah, they started to fund their organization _Going Places_. Now it was a successful program with more than fifty people working there, including Emma – who worked part-time. People who were down on their luck or in a rough place in life would come in and present their case, and if they were taken in – otherwise they'd be redirected to another program that better suited their needs – they would be lodged with an employee and given resources to help them get back into society, including self-help programs with licensed professionals. Jas originally roomed everyone together in a local apartment she had bought, but after a moment of clarity, she changed her tactic. At the time, occupancy had been overflowing, so she had taken one client to room with her, and found that they seemed more responsive and in better spirits when rooming with positive vibes.

And it turned into a success. People were responding better when they were with someone who was in a different place in life, like a reminder of what they could achieve, as one client had remarked. What truly made _Going Places_ unique was the pay-it-forward method she had adopted. Clients didn't have to pay anything for the services, but were encouraged to donate money once they could in order for the organization to help future clients. It encouraged people to come in and seek help, and once they were in a better place in life, every single person had donated more than the amount they had originally spent in gratitude.

Emma quickly texted Jas, letting her know about using two cards, and her friend let her know that it was no problem at all, she would see the results when they met up later that night. She also messaged her mom who, instead of responding with a text, called her.

"Really Emma, there are better ways to introduce your girlfriend," Ingrid teased as Emma answered the phone.

"I'm not dating her, mom," Emma responded monotonously. She had her cellphone held in place with her shoulder, working while she talked. It probably wasn't the best for her posture, but she could multitask.

"Of course, honey. So how did you meet her? You mentioned the park?"

"Yeah, she just appeared in the fountain one second and climbed out of it like she was the Swamp Thing or something." While the photos had been transferring, she saw the moment Regina had appeared. It really was from one second to the next. As she continued to explain to Ingrid, the chuckles kept growing into full belly laughs. She finished by recounting all Regina had told her about who she was, and the crazy story that led her to Washington Square Park yesterday.

"My my, sounds like you have quite a guest. And with magic you say?"

"Yeah, I mean, can you believe it?" Emma asked with a laugh of her own.

Emma frowned as her mother answered, "Actually yes, I can."

"What?" she blurted, flabbergasted.

"Oh come on Emma, you can't seriously believe that there can't be magic in this world? Some things are just that inexplicable. Did you know that I used to have magic when I was a little girl?"

Now she was sure her mom was pulling her leg. "Okay mom, okay, I get it, it's outlandish."

"I'm serious! I would make it snow indoors. My sisters and I had many wonderful nights with snowball fights."

"Are you sure it wasn't just asbestos falling from the ceiling?" Emma dryly riposted.

She could just imagine her mother's reaction. "Ha ha. Do you honestly think snowballs can be made from asbestos?"

Deciding to humour her, she asked, "So what happened to your powers? Did some great wizard take them?"

"Something like that. But really, I suppose I just grew up, had less chances to use it, and after the accident, my powers were gone." Emma knew that Ingrid hated to talk about the accident that killed her two sisters. It was a car crash in a snowstorm that had their car skid right off the road and into a snowbank, crushing the left side of the car completely. Ingrid, who was sitting on the front in the passenger side, was the only survivor. "But anyway. The point is that I don't think you should write off her story as completely implausible just yet."

"Mom, she thinks she's the Evil Queen! You know, the big bad villain? If her story is true, I'm housing one of the most dangerous Disney villains in fairy tale lore," Emma reminded her.

Ingrid gave a thoughtful hum. "Well, has she tried to kill you?"

"No…"

"Harm Henry?"

Emma repeated her answer.

"Then maybe you should give her a chance. Maybe this could be good for her. Meanwhile, I probably should get back into the fray. I'm handling the last customers for the summer." Ingrid's store, aptly named _The Ice Queen Shoppe_ – she claimed that Ice Queen sounded like ice cream, to which Emma had famously replied, "yeah, if you're drunk," and in turn led to her being smacked good-naturedly upside the head – had its peak time during the end of summer, since the temperatures grew very chilly in the fall. "Oh, and the tenants from the shop next door have finally put their place for sale, I'm just hoping it won't be a pub, or a restaurant that uses too many spices, you know that the…"

Emma had stopped listening, because her attention was completely on the woman heading her way. She was wearing the same clothes Regina had been wearing when she left, but she looked entirely different. Apart from being laden with bags on both hands, she had now applied makeup to her face and had donned stylish sunglasses, but the biggest change was her hair. It was now just brushing her shoulders, the tips fluffing outwards in a way that just made her seem ethereal.

"Mom, I have to go, we'll talk later okay?" Without waiting for a response, she hung up and put her phone away.

Regina smiled when she saw Emma, and went to sit beside her, bags placed to her other side, and removed her glasses, perching them up in her hair. "Hello once again."

"Hey…wow you look just-" Emma couldn't find the words to explain the transformed woman in front of her. If she had been gorgeous before, she was stunning now.

"Yes?" Regina looked expectant for Emma to finish her sentence.

"Gorgeous," she settled with. And the grin she got in response was worth the word choice. "So how does it feel now that you've finally shopped in NYC?"

Regina frowned. "Am I supposed to feel different? I mean, I feel better with shorter hair… but is there something special from shopping here?"

Emma chuckled. "Nah, it's just that New York City is well-known for its shopping. As for the shorter hair, it suits you. But if you wanted it so badly, why didn't you cut it before? Or do they not have hair salons over on your world?"

"We do, but it's much more rudimentary, and I never felt the need to cut it before. But here…I'm not sure, I just felt that it was something I should do."

"Well, I like it," Emma said, lightly bumping her shoulder with Regina's.

She returned the gesture with a smile of her own, before gesturing to Emma’s laptop. "Are you still working?"

"Nearly done. So, I'm guessing the shopping went well?" Emma asked, pointing to the bags.

"It did. But clothing sizes really are inconsistent!" Regina frowned.

"What did I tell you?" Emma responded with a laugh. "My friends and I have reached the conclusion that sizes are based on the position of the stars and how long ago it has rained."

Regina smiled at the quip. Soon enough they were packing up and heading to Emma's car, loading Regina's purchases into the trunk. She was now much more efficient with modern day technology, the dictionaries and manuals really had been quite useful.

"I have to ask," Emma began, easing off onto the main road. "Suppose that I believe you, and that you truly are the Evil Queen, then why aren't you...I dunno, evil?"

After a beat, Emma rushed to add, "I mean, not that I want you to be evil, but you just don't strike me as evil. Maybe a bit on the loony side, but I don't peg you as evil."

Regina nodded, smiling a bit. "Well I suppose the moniker wasn't exactly my idea. I rather dislike being referred as such. I have done some less-favourable and evil things in my reign as queen, so the name is apt I suppose, but it has all been part of my quest to end Snow White, and to punish simpering peasants who mock me."

Emma's eyes widened in a smidgen of fear. She figured that Regina wasn't innocent entirely, but surely she wasn't a pathological homicidal murderer, or at the very least, had good enough reason for her hatred? "Do you mind me asking what she did to you to make you hate her this much? I mean, I'm guessing this is not over looks, right?"

"No!" Regina growled. She was tired of hearing that version of the story. Even the movie last night used that tale. As if she would ever be that vain. "But I would rather not talk about it. Suffice it to say that she ruined my life."

"Oh," Emma said tactlessly. "I get it, you don't have to explain if it's so private, especially to a practical stranger. I'm sorry for bringing it up."

"Well, you have been lodging me and you did pay for all of this," Regina countered, gesturing to the trunk of the car where the bags were. "I am indebted to you, but I don't exactly wish to reveal such a personal story quite yet."

"Look Regina, I'm helping because I want to, not to get the exclusive story on the great Queen Regina," Emma quirked her lips in a smile. "Neither are you indebted to me. Except, maybe keep talk about ending Snow White to a minimum around Henry, okay?"

"Oh, of course," Regina agreed. "And I promise, despite what my reputation might have you think of me, my only interest is in Snow White. I won't harm you or your son."

Emma gave her an easy smile. "Somehow, I can believe that."

The rest of the trip was spent in a comfortable silence, eventually arriving once more to the apartment's parking garage.

"Thank you, for today," Regina said as they grabbed her bags from the car.

"You're welcome. And like they say, shopping sprees can make almost anyone happy," Emma said with a grin. Although she didn't agree too much with the sentiment, it seemed like Regina was the type of person who would agree with it.


	5. Happy Endings

After they had made their way upstairs, Emma had helped Regina take all her purchases to her room, before rushing off to finish her project and send it to her client. As Regina was putting away her new clothes in the wardrobe, she got to thinking about the future. Right now she was stuck in this world. If there truly was no magic practitioner nearby, then she would need her magic to get back, but she wouldn't have her magic back for nearly two weeks.

Then she began to wonder whether she really wanted to return home. Despite how strange this world was, and its many confusing customs, she found it much more exciting than her world. Not to mention that no one knew her here, so no one feared her. It was a pleasant experience to be able to peruse the clothing shop with ease, even receiving a few smiles. But, she wondered, would she be able to let go of her hatred of Snow White so easily? She had been chasing her for nearly eight years, it had been her sole purpose in life. And even if she did end her hunt, what would happen if she met her on the street? Surely she also landed here, and was probably getting a crash-course on this world just like she was.

Supposing she did decide to stay here, she was certain that Emma wouldn't house her indefinitely, for no one was that kind. Which meant that she would need to find a home, and for that, she needed money, and therefore a job. And she didn't have any skills so to speak, unless it included being a sovereign monarch – which she had briefly learnt had been abolished many, many years ago at a tea party – or a plotting evil-doer, which wouldn’t garner her any favourable points.

There were many variables to consider, and Regina wasn't sure what to do. But that could wait, now, she heard that Henry had arrived.

"Hey mom, we're home!" he hollered.

Since she had essentially finished putting her stuff away, she made her way to the living room, where Henry was chatting away with Emma's mother. Despite having no biological connection to the older woman, they did resemble each other in a way.

Henry then noticed her and his eyes widened. "Whoa, you look pretty, Regina!" 

She looked down with a small blush and said, "Thank you, Henry."

He grinned at her, and even Ingrid gave her an appreciative look. "Seems like you've had quite the makeover. Welcome to the 21st century," she added with a grin.

Regina wasn't quite sure what the 21st century was, nor what happened to the 20 previous ones, but she smiled politely anyway.

"Alright, I've got to get going, the truck isn't going to fix itself," she said, giving Henry a quick hug, ruffling his hair, and giving him a kiss on the cheek. "I'm just going to say goodbye to your mother."

Now it was just her and Henry. She had always had a soft spot for children, but she was worried Henry would fear her, like all the other children from the Enchanted Forest. But she needn't have worried, he rushed to the sofa and patted the seat beside himself, indicating that she could sit beside him, while he was swinging his dangling legs lazily.

Once she sat down, she asked, "Did you have a good day at school?"

Henry nodded. "Yeah, it was pretty cool to see my friends again. So are you really from the Middle Ages?"

Regina jerked her head at the subject change, and frowned. "I'm not sure what the Middle Ages are, but I'm from the Enchanted Forest."

"Whoa, that's so cool!" Henry said, eyes wide in wonder. "Do you guys have knights and queens and dragons and princesses?"

She smiled at his enthusiasm. "Yes we do. We also have fairies, and magic."

He gasped right then. "Seriously? That is so cool! Can I go with you?"

Regina very much doubted that Emma would let Henry go. "Well I can't go home right now, I have no magic at the moment, and there's no one who practises magic here."

Henry frowned, not liking this development. "Then you're going to stay here?"

"For now," she said with a nod.

"Good, I like having you here," he said with an adorable grin. "Why did you lose your magic?"

She was finding that Henry clearly liked to jump around topics. "Because I made a deal with a dangerous man."

"What kind of a deal?" he asked with trepidation.

Well, she couldn't very well say that it was to get rid of Snow White, that might not win her any points with Henry, and Emma had requested she not do so. "I was trying to acquire something."

"What's acquire?"

"Oh, it's when you want to get something for yourself," she explained.

Understanding, he nodded slowly. "So what were you trying to acquire?"

She smiled at his question. He was quite the cute child. "An object to help me against my enemy."

"You have an enemy? Who?"

"Snow White," she simply said.

Henry's eyes widened and his jaw lowered, his hand slowly curling, leaving the index finger to point at her. "You're the Evil Queen!"

"She doesn't like to be called that, kid," a voice spoke from behind them. Turning, Regina saw Emma standing by the hallway, arms crossed, and amused smile on her face.

"Sorry Regina," Henry mumbled.

"It's quite alright, but I suppose that yes, I am the Evil Queen," she nodded.

Emma had made her way closer and sat on Henry's other side, pulling him closer to her and giving him a one-armed hug. "But it's okay kid, she won't hurt you."

Henry smiled at Regina, "I know that." Regina nearly melted at Henry's conviction that she wouldn't harm him, and his seeming belief in her. Then after a few seconds, he seemed to realize something, and tugged Emma closer to him so he could whisper in her ear.

Regina strained to hear, but she couldn't make anything out. After he was done, Emma looked up at her with a sad smile. "I doubt it, kid. She seems like a survivor."

When Regina made a questioning look with her brows, Emma said, "Henry was wondering whether your story would end like the Disney movie's ending."

Ah, whether she would die. Flashing a comforting smile, she told Henry, "My story's not like the movie, so you needn't worry."

Henry seemed convinced, and grinned at her.

"Alright, I'm gonna go prepare dinner because we're having guests tonight, so you two can keep talking if you want, I'll be in the kitchen," Emma said, standing up.

Not wanting to feel useless, Regina asked, "Do you need any help?"

"It's okay, I can handle it," Emma responded with an easy smile.

And now it was back to just her and Henry. Even though Emma was just a few feet away, she still struggled with a topic.

"So, do all fairy tale characters exist?" Henry asked after a moment of thought.

"Yes, we all coexist in the same land."

For Henry, that seemed like quite an idea. "That's so awesome. So does everyone have their happy ending there?"

Regina bit her lip, unsure how to answer. "Not exactly," she settled with.

"Why not? Do you have your happy ending?"

She shook her head.

"That's silly. If you're a fairy tale character, you have to have your happy ending!"

"Perhaps that works for the heroes, but I'm a villain." Although she had only killed once under Rumpelstiltskin's orders while she trained, she had threatened and hurt many people throughout the kingdom. She hadn't gotten her reputation by being mislabelled.

But Henry clearly didn't know about that, he saw things much simpler, so he shook his head. "No you're not. You don't seem evil at all to me. Maybe shy and sad and lonely, but not evil. Hey, maybe we can get you your happy ending! Mom has helped a lot of people get their happy endings!"

"Oh really?" she asked, glancing at Emma standing in the kitchen. Said woman was looking wide-eyed at being dragged into this. 

"Yeah. So what's your happy ending? Is it finding a prince?" Henry asked.

Regina smiled good-humouredly. "Not precisely. I just want to find a home in the world, with people who care for me. If I find love, then that's an added bonus that I wouldn't mind."

She didn't mention the fact that she didn't think she deserved it. She had torn apart so many families in her blind hunt for her nemesis. Why should she get what she had denied others?

* * *

"So let me get this straight, you're Snow White?"

The scene was a very peculiar one. Lacey was behind the store counter, looking at the absolutely dishevelled woman in front of her. She had burst into the shop five minutes before she was set to close, claiming she was Snow White, and while she could pull it off with a bit of work, the once-white dress now turned to a sickly brown, green and yellow combination, plus all the dirt on her face and arms, not to mention the disarray that was her hair, made it quite a far-fetched tale.

Snow nodded enthusiastically, happy that she wasn't being shooed away as had been the case with most of the others she spoke to. It really must be a land without happy endings if everyone was so rude. "Yes! I've been trying to find some kind soul to help me for the past day, but no one has been able to direct me back to the Enchanted Forest!"

Lacey's brows were furrowed at the outlandish tale. "And what makes you think _I_ can help you?"

"Because of the sign on your door! The Happy Ending Bookstore, ' _Where a happy ending is just a page away'_! I need to get back to the Enchanted Forest so I can marry my Prince Charming, David!" Snow explained with a way too cheery smile.

She was sorely regretting naming her business that right about now. "Right, look, how about I just give you a place to stay for the night, and then we can figure out your happy ending. Maybe David will find you."

"Oh I have no doubt about that, we always find each other," she responded with a confident grin and a lovesick smile. Then it faded as she thought of something. "We have to be careful though, the Evil Queen is here too!"

"Really?" Lacey asked, amused.

"Yes! She's the one who brought me here in the first place. Tricked me into thinking she was being nice, and then made me go through a portal. But I showed her," she added with a mischievous smirk. "I took her with me so she's probably faring even worse than me right now…if she hasn't cursed this entire land already."

Who knew that Snow White had a devious streak? "Alright then, let me close up shop and we can walk home."

* * *

"And this bean will take us to wherever Snow is?" David asked, pointing to said bean.

"Yes," the Blue Fairy responded, holding out the object. She was currently in her human size, otherwise the bean would have been a bit too big for her to carry.

"But how will we get back?" Red asked, not fully trusting the Blue Fairy. Call it paranoia, but there was something shifty about the fairy.

Seemingly having an answer for everything, Blue made a small golden bell connected to a wooden handle appear with a flourish. "Just take this, and when you are ready, call on me and shake it. I will appear and take us back."

Red frowned, eyes narrowing. "But why not bring her back _now_ if you can transport yourself to that world?"

The fairy's lips tightened, clearly not enjoying the interrogation. "I can transport anywhere _if_ I have a specific beacon to where I'm supposed to go. Without it, I can't know where she is, now can I? Just trust me."

She didn't trust her, not by a long shot. But if David did, then she would follow him to save her best friend. They took the bean and went to the fountain where they had seen Snow and Regina disappear into. Throwing the bean, they saw the waters change. He drew his sword, and she transformed into her wolf form. After sharing a look, they both jumped into the portal together, ready to defeat the Evil Queen and bring Snow back, safe and sound.

* * *

Emma opened the door to reveal Jas and An standing on the other side. "Hey you two, come on in."

They did so, but Jas didn't stop, rather she rushed off to the kitchen while hollering, "The masala dosas need to be kept warm!"

Chuckling, Emma turned to give her friend a light punch on the arm. "So how was your first day back teaching?"

An was a high school English teacher, and while she quite enjoyed it, she also had quite a knack for self-defence and fighting. She had taught Emma how to fight with a long sword, and even gifted her with one after their training was done. Emma had been so impressed, she asked An if she ever thought about pursuing it professionally. At the question, An had let out a bark of laughter, and later explained that she thought it would be too much irony if a woman named Mulan opened her own wu kwan. "Boring. There's only so many 'introduce yourself and say one interesting thing about you' that I can take in one day. But what I want to hear about," she said in an interested voice, "is the mysterious lady you guys took in."

Pushing her further into the house, she gestured to Regina, who was currently reading the dictionary in her lap, with the manual for the washing machine beside her.

An nodded slowly. "I can see why you think she's crazy. Who reads a dictionary?"

" _She_ does. Apparently it's helping her learn about this world," Emma responded.

"Right, because she's from the Middle Ages?"

"Not only that, but she's the freaking Evil Queen from Snow White! Except she doesn't like to be called that," Emma amended.

"You just did," An countered.

"It's the easiest way to explain."

"Touché."

Looking to the kitchen, Jas and Henry seemed to be in deep conversation, so Emma decided that it was time to eat. "Alright everyone, dinner time. And introductions."

Regina looked up in surprise, clearly very engrossed in the explanation of whatever word she didn't know of to not had realized that they had guests. "Oh, my apologies, I didn't hear anyone come in."

"It's okay," Emma said, dismissing it with an easy smile. "So Regina, this is Jas," – Jas gave a smile and a friendly wave – "and here is An," – An gave a nearly imperceptible nod – "Jas, An, this is Regina."

Emma had often joked that Jas and An were Disney princesses, considering their names, but now with Regina, this was taking it a step too far. All they needed was Snow White to show up and it'd be a full house.

"Alright, let's start serving, otherwise the food'll get cold," Jas insisted, beckoning everyone to sit down. Emma had made sure there were enough chairs, and with how the seating arrangement worked out, Emma and Regina were sitting at the opposite ends of the table. An had taken the seat to Emma's left, Henry and Jas were to her right. As they dug in, they split into two different bubbles of conversations. Jas spoke with Regina since they were closer, while Henry, An, and Emma spoke about sports, school, and other events.

After they were done with dinner, Emma was gathering the dishes when Regina rose and offered, "I'll help you carry those."

So together they carried the big dishes of food and their empty plates back to the kitchen. After they deposited it on the counter and the sink respectively, Emma went to gather the dessert and utensils.

"Emma?" Regina piped up in a shy voice as Emma was getting ready to turn and head back to the table with their ice cream and bowls in tow.

"Yeah?"

Regina began to fidget with the hem of her shirt, still wearing the clothes from this morning, but having shucked the blazer awhile ago. "Can we speak for a moment?"

Emma put everything down and led them to the pantry where it was quieter and more secluded. "Sure, what's up?"

From what she had been able to tell, Regina was – or at least gave the image of being – very confident and sure about herself. To see her so uncharacteristically nervous made Emma wonder what she could want to talk about.  "Hey," Emma said, nudging Regina's chin up with her hand so they could look at each other. "What is it?"

"Thank you."

This was certainly not what she thought they would be talking about, certainly nothing to be too worried about. "You…re welcome?"

Regina smiled at Emma's befuddlement. "It's just, Jas was telling me more about her organization. She mentioned that if I ever wanted to come in for help, I could."

Emma wasn’t understanding what this had to do with her. "That's good, but why…"

Taking a deep breath, Regina got to the point of her speech. "She also spoke about housing placements, and if you want me to leave-"

"What? No!" Emma rushed to say. "Please don’t think you have to leave. I like having you here, and I'm sure Henry does too. Unless you want leave, then I won't stop you. But you're more than welcome to stay here."

"Really?" Regina asked, her voice croaking ever so slightly.

"Of course! Now come on, you've yet to taste this century's ice cream," Emma said, beckoning her back out.

Feeling much more confident that she would at least have a comfortable place to stay at for the foreseeable future, Regina went back to the table with a smile. And she had to admit, the ice cream was quite delicious. They had switched around in their seats because Jas wanted to sit with her wife, so now Jas had claimed Emma's original seat, and in turn Emma took Jas' old seat and was now sitting between Henry and Regina.

So when Emma decided to be devious, Regina had no idea what was coming to her. Emma had subtly dunked her finger into her bowl, scooped up a bit of ice cream, and before Regina could react, tapped her nose and left a small mountain of ice cream on her nose, receiving a surprised yelp for her efforts.

"Gotcha!" Emma grinned, seeming like the smuggest person on the planet, cleaning her finger of the remaining drops.

Slowly, Regina brought her index and middle fingers to slowly wipe the ice cream from her nose, keeping her expression level. The entire table was frozen, silent as they waited with baited breath for what Regina would do. Keeping the same arduous pace, Regina licked the ice cream from her fingers in a such a way that really was most likely not appropriate with a ten year old child in the vicinity, and left Emma gaping slightly. Once she was done, her lips morphed into a smirk. "You're getting it now."

Sensing that she was in for it, Emma slid out of her chair and began to bolt. Although Regina generally preferred to poof in front of her prey and catch them unawares, present circumstances forced her to get up and chase after her hostess, heels and all. Although this was all playful, Regina still gave Emma chase, finally cornering her in the latter's room, away from the doorway, which she had closed after entering, and the bathroom – her only other option to hide – was too far away for Emma to reach. Only way out was either the window, or surrendering.

"Nowhere to run, Emma," Regina taunted.

"Come on, it was all in good fun, right?" Emma smiled nervously, hands splayed in front of her, eyes roaming for an exit strategy. Suddenly she tried to dive over the bed, but Regina's reflexes caught her.

They rolled around for a bit until suddenly, Regina was straddling Emma, holding her wrists pinned above her, their faces dangerously close. "Gotcha," she said with a grin, repeating Emma's words.

Emma had been rendered speechless, mouth opening and closing like a fish. Moving impossibly closer, their eyes kept glancing between each other and their respective lips.

Then the door burst open which had Regina scrambling to move away, and Emma perched up on her elbows to see who was at the door. It was Henry with the visiting couple hovering behind him, looking to see what was going on.

"So who won?" Henry asked innocently.

Both women looked at one another, soft looks in their eyes, split between friendliness and confusion, ignoring the identical blushes they were sporting.

"I did," Regina claimed with a grin.

Without another question or comment, though Jas and An were grinning knowingly, they went back out to finish their desserts.

* * *

After Jas and An had left, Regina had insisted that she would do the dishes. "I read the manual, I know how the dishwasher works, and you cooked so it's only fair that I clear up the mess," she had explained in such a way that left no room for argument.

So Emma acquiesced, but still hovered because she felt bad that her guest was helping around.

After a few minutes of silence, Regina was the one who started the conversation. "Jas told me that you help out with her organization…"

"Yeah," Emma said with a nod, going to sit on the island countertop behind Regina. "When I'm not too busy with work I try to help out."

"Is that why you took me in? Because you help those in need?"

Emma wasn't too sure what the line of questioning was due to, but she decided to keep answering with the truth. "Yeah, that and I felt that you seemed totally lost, once you stopped being generally crabby towards me."

Regina glanced behind her shoulder to smirk slightly at Emma. "In my defense, I had just come out of a fountain after traipsing through a portal, I think I had my right to be in a foul mood."

"Fair enough. What's this all about?" Emma asked, wanting to bring the conversation back to topic.

Not answering right away, Regina finished washing everything, then turned off the tap and turned around, grabbing a dishtowel to dry her hands before she sighed and looked away. "I'm just trying to understand why you would house a villain like me. I've done some terrible things in my life, but you're taking me in and helping me adjust to this world. Why?"

Giving a sigh of her own, Emma jumped down from her perch, taking a few steps closer to Regina. "Look, a part of me is still not fully convinced on you being a real life fairy tale character. But for the sake of this, let's pretend I believe you 100%. And what I'm going to tell you isn't to make you feel bad, or pity me, or anything, but it's to help you understand what went through my mind.

"I had a pretty bad childhood growing up. I was an orphan, and I was shuffled around foster families like I was a change of clothes. Eventually, I got in with the wrong crowd, joined up a small gang with two guys, Neal and Al. And with them, I did some pretty illegal things. Not as bad as something a fairy tale villain hell-bent on revenge would do, but I lied, cheated, stole, emotionally manipulated, and I hurt people. But eventually, life gave me a way out of this downward spiral. I got thrown in juvie," – at Regina's confusion, Emma explained what juvie was – "but because I was pregnant with Henry, they decided to change my sentence. Instead of spending time in jail, I would be sent to one final family to see if I could be rehabilitated. That was where Ingrid came in, and she helped me so much.

"After Henry was born, Ingrid kinda prodded me to do something with my life. I decided to get some real help in getting my life back on track. I had crossed paths with Al, now reformed, and he mentioned an organization named _Going Places_. That's where I met Jas, and she gave me a final kick in the right direction. And now here I am. The point is that sometimes all you need is a second chance, someone who believes in you and wants to help you be better. It might be something as simple as telling someone it'll be alright, but it can change your life around. And I think that maybe that's what you need."

Regina nodded slowly, unsure what to even say after being faced with such a story. "Thank you. Well then, I suppose I should head to bed. Good night, and thank you once again."

With that, Emma was left standing in the kitchen alone, and she wondered if sharing that story really did help Regina.


	6. New Perspectives

Lacey wasn't entirely convinced that she wasn't slowly losing her mind. She had originally taken Snow in because she could relate to her situation. Perhaps sans the belief that she was a Disney princess, but she had experienced the hardships of being turned down by everyone because she had been branded as a lost cause. But the minute that Snow had entered her apartment, she began flocking around the place, exploring every nook and cranny like a real tourist of time.

Maybe she was telling the truth.

"Oh what does this do?" Snow asked, index finger straight out, going to press the power button to her television.

The screen came to life, the sound blaring with such a force that it made her guest yelp loudly and scramble back, stumbling over the coffee table and falling between the back edge of the table and the sofa with a loud thump that reverberated all around.

Lacey chuckled and went to turn it back off again, smiling at the absolutely appalled look Snow had plastered onto her face, chest heaving as if she had just ran a marathon.

"What was that?" Snow asked, still trying to catch her breath.

"That was a tv. It's where we watch the news, movies and shows," Lacey explained, having gotten used to explaining everything modern to the clearly confused woman. She had been absolutely bewildered when faced with the subway, and they had missed two trains because she refused to get inside the strange cylindrical monster with many mouths.

Snow was gaping slightly as she nodded slowly, getting a taste of the word. "A tee-vee. It's a strange word. Don't you have fairs to watch shows though? Or town criers for news? And… what's a movie?"

She was thankfully saved from having to respond by a knock at the door. Going to answer the call, she first looked through the peephole, and found that it was only her landlord, Little John, who was ironically built quite the opposite to his nickname.

Opening the door, she greeted him with an innocent jovialness. "Hey Little John! What can I do for you?"

"Heard someone scream, wanted to investigate," the man responded, looking past her and inside the apartment. It was then that Lacey saw the crossbow he had in his hands, all ready to fire.

"Oh!" Lacey said, turning to look at the still sprawled Snow who looked like a right mess with her dress still in shambles. "I'm sorry, my…cousin just got a bit carried away looking at the apartment. She's visiting for a few days and just arrived a few minutes ago."

Little John didn't look too overly convinced, especially considering the disarray that was Snow's outfit. Who wore a wedding dress – much less a torn and dirty one – to visit their cousin in New York? The crossbow was still being tightly held in rest position, as if he was ready to fire if the wrong answer was given. "Your cousin?"

Thankfully Snow seemed to go along with it, and just waved and cheerily greeted, "Hi!"

"Didn't know you had any family. She doesn't have an accent though," John pointed out.

"Right! Her mother moved to the States a long time ago, settled up in a little town in Maine, but my mom swore she'd never leave Australia, so I only managed to move here recently" Lacey responded, pulling backstories out of anywhere. She had read so many books, pulling off a convincing lie should be easy for her.

Now he seemed to understand the story more, and gave an understanding nod. "Ah, I see. Well very nice to meet you, Miss…"

Lacey wildly tried to think of a name. Snow White would certainly sound like a fake name, and Little John was quite keen on keeping his tenants modest citizens. He had certain rules he expected everyone to follow, and wouldn't accept anything less. Which meant no loud noises, breaking things, or tomfoolery, and certainly nothing illegal or dangerous. Housing a potentially certifiable nutcase certainly counted as something he would not approve of. "Blanchard," Lacey blurted. "Mary Margaret Blanchard."

"I see; carry on then, don't let me keep you," Little John nodded, shuffling back to his flat.

Closing the door behind him, Lacey sagged against the door, letting out a deep sigh. "Alright, I guess that's your cover story. You're my cousin, Mary Margaret."

Snow couldn't have looked more ecstatic. She practically jumped up as she got to her feet, and clapped her hands gleefully. "Oh wonderful! I've always wanted a large family, and you seem like a perfect person to have as a cousin." After a few seconds, she bit her lip for a moment before she asked, "If it's not too much trouble, can you point me in the direction of a bathing room? I'm afraid I haven't bathed in days and I'm certainly not presentable. If Charming finds me like this he will be shocked!"

"Uh…sure, let me get you some clothes."

* * *

Soon enough, Snow had figured out the shower, and was now clean and sporting a pair of black tights, a flower-print shirt, and a cardigan; the shirt had been an old gift that Lacey had received but had never found it to be her style. "Now I feel much better! Thank you so much!"

"Not a problem," Lacey responded with a smile, looking up from the newest book she had gotten into. "So are you going to wait until your Prince Charming comes around?"

"Of course, he'll find me easily enough, we always do," Snow responded with a dreamy sigh, fluttering down onto the couch.

"Right, and how long have you known the guy?" she asked, still a bit weirded out by how passionate Snow got over the whole finding each other thing.

Snow thought for a moment, before settling with, "A fortnight perhaps?"

" _Two weeks_?!" Lacey spluttered. "And you're acting like you're true loves and destined for one another?"

"Of course! Granted we've had a bit of trouble truly getting to know each other more because we were being chased by the Evil Queen, and I was under a sleeping curse, but he's it for me. And he’s my true love! We shared true love’s kiss and everything. Is that not how things work in this world?"

"Not at all," Lacey responded with chuckle.

"Oh! How do you court others in this world then?"

So Lacey explained how dating worked. Snow was absolutely fascinated, and even claimed that when her prince showed up, that they would have one of those dates. They continued talking well into the night, and eventually Lacey headed to her room, leaving Snow to get comfortable on the pull-away bed on the couch.

* * *

David scrambled out of the fountain in confusion and made his way to the edge. Beside him, still in her wolf form, Red was yelping and shaking herself dry.

"Where are we?" he asked in wonder, looking around at what was probably a park of some sorts. Although it was dark, sources of unwavering light spread around the area lit the place up so he could see a bit farther.

Red whimpered, clearly just as puzzled as he was. But now was no time to dawdle and wonder, he had to find his beloved. "Red, can you find a scent?"

The wolf sniffed the air and the ground around them, trying to find a vestige of something. But there was nothing. Either too much time had passed, or the water had washed away any traces. Or there was a worse possibility, but Red didn't want to think in those terms. Seeing that there was no immediate danger, she tried to shift back to her human form but found herself unable to. Pawing at her snout, she tried to alert David.

"What is it? You didn't find anything?" David asked.

Shaking her head, he sighed.

"Can you turn back?" Once again, she answered in the negative. "Alright, then we shall tackle this world as best as we can. Come now, we will find her eventually."

With the bravado that only came from being a prince, David twirled the wrist holding his sword, gripping it tightly as he moved forward. Although he was positively drenched, he still managed to cut a figure of strength. Red trailed behind him, hoping to catch a whiff of Snow's scent sometime soon.

* * *

When Regina woke up, she felt disoriented for a few seconds before she remembered where she was. Right; the bean, the new world, the family that had taken her in. More and more she was beginning to wonder if Rumple had ripped her off. This didn't seem like a world without happy endings, the people seemed happy, when they weren't honking furiously and exclaiming profanities.

What worried her was that the more time she spent here, the more she wanted to stay. She wasn't sure if Emma would allow her to reside there permanently, but she felt that living here was making her much happier than she had ever been in the old world. Free from her mother's past machinations, from peasants who feared her because of her moniker; she could make an entirely new life to do as she wanted.

Getting up, she made her way to the bathroom, doing a morning routine of primping that was a similar version to what she had seen the hairdresser do to her yesterday. Soon enough, she looked presentable, so she went to get dressed for the day before heading out of her room to prepare breakfast for the Swans.

Entering the kitchen, she took out a recipe book that she had found in the expansive bookshelf the house had, and flipped to a new page, landing on cupcakes. Perhaps later, it wasn't proper breakfast food. Finding the page for French toast, she glanced at the ingredients list, and went to the fridge to grab what she needed. She wasn't sure how old the bread they had was, but she supposed it would suffice. Gathering everything onto the counter, she started to prepare everything, first by mixing the primary batch. Once she was done, she went to grab the frying pan, but her fingers had been a bit slippery, and the pan slipped to clang onto the ground, creating an incredible ruckus. Staying frozen for a few seconds, still flinching, she waited to hear any reactions signifying that she had woken up the other inhabitants.

Hearing nothing, she thought she had managed to not wake anyone, and finally shifted, picking up the skillet from the ground. But not two minutes later, she saw Emma scrambling through the hallway, past the living room, heading towards her. "What's with all the noise?" she asked, seeming alarmed, though at the same time, only half-awake.

"My apologies, I was merely trying to make breakfast, but my hands were slippery from mixing, and the skillet slid through my hands," Regina explained.

Emma merely waved it off once she saw Regina was alright. "It's cool, I was worried something had broken or you had gotten hurt."

Regina gave her a look of fondness as she asked, "You care about what happens to me?"

"Yeah, of course, why wouldn't I?" Emma responded, looking thoroughly confused at the question, seemingly asking why Regina would even doubt her intentions.

But this was very new for Regina. No one had ever truly cared about her so intensely before. "I'm sorry, I'm just not used to it."

Emma made her way closer to Regina, right hand going to gently touch her upper arm, and she asked, "Anything you want to talk about?"

Alas, Regina still wasn't ready to let down her walls, so she just shook her head, but made no movement to get away from Emma's hand. It was comforting and soothing. Maybe soon she would find it in herself to trust her with such dark secrets. "No, it's fine; thank you anyway," she finally said, flashing what she hoped was a reassuring smile.

The expression she got in response told Regina that she wasn't as successful as she could have hoped. "Alright, when you want to, I'm right here. Anyway, whatcha making?"

Heading back to a safe topic, Regina told her that she was making French toast.

After it was done cooking, Emma tried a bite, and hummed in appreciation. " _Wow_ , you are a talented cook. You ever thought about becoming a pastry chef or just opening up your own shop?"

Regina chuckled. "While I appreciate the compliment, I don't think I'd be too good at it."

"Are you kidding me? This is delicious, Regina! You have skills."

She thought about it for a bit, and could see herself opening a shop, it could work. But then she shook her head. She was the _Evil Queen_ , she didn't run pastry shops. "Perhaps one day," she answered with a small smirk.

Soon enough, Henry was awake, sounding a bit more lethargic at having to wake up early for the second day in a row.

As they ate breakfast, they spoke of their schedules, how Emma had to go grocery shopping, and Regina would accompany her, saying she could use some ingredients for some recipes she wanted to try out. Emma gave her a meaningful look, to which Regina just scrunched up her nose playfully in response.

While they enjoyed each other's company, it was a good thing that they hadn't turned the TV on, otherwise Regina's calmness while not thinking about Snow would've ended.

* * *

Lacey though,  _was_ watching the news, seated on her couch with a bowl of cereal on her lap. On the table, there was a jumbo mug of coffee, since her wake-up call had been a bit more hectic than just a frying pan falling.

No, she had woken up because the entirety of New York's varied animal kingdom had showed up at Snow's beck and call. She had come out of her room with the dulcet tone of Snow's humming and vocalizing, only to be faced with a living room full of roaches, rats, pigeons, mosquitoes, a few cats, some raccoons, and she was sure there had been an opossum too.

"What the fuck!?" she had exclaimed without preamble. Not wasting a moment to wait for a reply, she shooed all the animals back outside the apartment, grabbing a nearby broom that a pair of racoons had been using to help her with the task.

"I'm sorry, I just saw that the place needed some cleaning, and I thought my friends could help!" Snow explained with an entirely too-innocent tone.

Not willing to admit that the place did look cleaner, she just spluttered. "Then grab a mop! Those animals are _vermin_ , they could be infested with something!"

Snow had enough sense to look repentant for what she had done. "I really am sorry, I figured that perhaps I could repay you for your kindness at having me stay by helping to clean the place!"

Lacey eventually relented, finding that her guest was well-meaning, and set out to serve them breakfast. When they had their respective meals readied, they settled on the couch and were watching the news, Snow was beside her and fascinated by what she saw, and then they reached the highlight segment.

 _"If you're just joining us,"_ the reporter was saying, _"It seems that New York has a bona fide Prince Charming roaming the streets! Our very own Ashley Boyd managed to snag an interview with this delightful young gentleman who seemed set on his quest to find his Snow White!"_

Lacey slowly turned to look at her guest, and saw her frowning, until the scene changed to show the streets outside, where Ashley Boyd was holding a microphone to a very confused but dashing man, and Snow's face shifted.

"That's Charming!" Snow exclaimed, grabbing Lacey's shoulder and shaking her slightly.

Meanwhile Ashley was asking, _"So, you're trying to find your Snow White huh?"_

_"Yes, and I **will** find her, over hell or high water. This strange world will not prevent me from finding my love!"_

Throughout the speech, Snow was fawning over Charming, squealing excitedly.

 _"And I see you've got a wolf companion too!"_ Ashley exclaimed, and the camera moved to the wolf, who wasn't at all interested in the interview, instead just sniffing around. Then it seemed something shifted in the atmosphere for the wolf. It let out a confused yelp, and then, like a dog, its ears perked up before it started to run off and away.

 _"She has found something! I'm coming for you, Snow!"_ he yelled, running after the wolf, sword in hand.

 _"And that's it folks! Did Prince Charming find his Snow White? Only time will tell,"_ Ashley closed off with a smile, and then cut to commercial break.

Lacey turned back to her guest. "Well then, am I to assume Charming will come barging in at any moment?"

Snow nodded gleefully. "Red must've heard my singing!"

She didn't even have time to ask who Red was, before someone was pounding on the door. Figuring that it was probably Little John asking what all the squealing was about, she lazily shuffled to the door, and opened it without checking. To her surprise, it wasn't Little John, but the same man she had seen on TV not a minute ago.

"I've got you, witch!" the man exclaimed, sword held out, the tip dangerously close to her neck. "No disguise will save you!"

"Whoa, whoa! Calm down!" Lacey tried to back away from the dangerous blade, but tripped over her slippers and landed on the ground with a soft 'oof'. The wolf beside him was snarling, moving closer, and Lacey tried to scramble back as best as she could from both dangers.

"David! Red! Wait! Lacey is a friend!" Snow shouted, rushing to stand a little ways behind Lacey, hands out to stop them from hurting her new ally.

David took a few seconds to look between his beloved and Lacey, finally settling on understanding, and putting his sword away back into its sheath. Then, holding his leather gloved hand out towards Lacey to help her up, he said, "My sincerest apologies, I wasn't sure if you were the Evil Queen in disguise."

As Lacey accepted the hand, she could see why he was called Prince Charming. She certainly was believing this story of Snow's. "Thank you."

"Oh Red, you came too!" Snow said, getting to her knees and hugging the wolf's mane.

"Red is….the wolf?" Lacey asked, puzzled.

"Yes, though she can also turn into a human," Snow explained, breaking from the hug and scratching behind Red's ears, receiving a content growl in return.

"Right now she can't though," David interjected.

"Really?" Snow looked surprised. "That is terrible!"

Red whimpered in agreement. Something about this world's magic was different, like it was lingering just out of her grasp, but if she concentrated, perhaps she could make the shift.

Lacey meanwhile, was frozen in shock trying to discern what the heck she was witnessing, until she heard stomps from the hallway filtering through the still open doorway. It was unmistakably Little John, and this would not be as easy to explain.

"Hide!" she hissed, pushing David towards any room that he so chose, as long as there was a door he could close. She also gestured for Red to follow, though she was unsure on how to address the creature. While David made his way to her bedroom, Red went for the laundry room, apparently finding the bedroom's carpet too tricky for her claws.

Once they were out of the way – Snow had gone with Charming – she went back to the doorway, where her landlord was standing, arms crossed, his wild mane in even more disarray in the morning, looking into her apartment with thinly veiled confusion. "Want to tell me what the ruckus was this time?"

She smiled sheepishly. "I'm really sorry, my cousin saw a rat and sort of freaked out."

Little John sighed. "French, you're sounding less and less convincing. If I were you, I would try to figure out a story and stick to it. I know for a fact that there aren't any rats nearby. I have plenty of traps lying around just in case."

Just then, a yelp sounded as something – or someone – crashed onto something. The sound was coming from the laundry room, and Lacey internally groaned.

"What the…" Little John muttered, before they heard another shrill yelp, and someone bolting from the laundry room stark naked.

In a truly comical scene, the blur went to hide behind Lacey, seemingly using her as a shield. Trying to see who it was, she managed to whip her head enough around to find a complete stranger… a very gorgeous stranger. She had long luscious brown hair, and was looking wide-eyed in the direction of the laundry room as if some scary monster was there.

"Someone want to explain to me what's going on? What happened to your cousin?" Little John blurted, flustered and averting his eyes from the very naked woman who Lacey was certain was Red.

"She's talking to her fiancé," Lacey smoothly explained.

Little John seemed too dazed to try and see if that was true. "And this is…?"

Lacey decided that Red probably wasn't an acceptable name he would accept, so she shifted it a bit. "Ruby."

Red finally seemed to realize where she was, and turned to the man with something like a scowl. "I'm her lover. And who are you?"

The scene was already strange considering that Lacey currently had a fully naked woman pressed onto her back, one who was somewhat taller than her, so the effect of hiding didn't work quite well. But to add that she was standing in front of her landlord, spewing off lie after lie to explain why she had fairy tale characters crashing in her flat, plus the fact that this fairy tale character just claimed to be dating her, added an extra level of madness.

"Right, I'm the landlord, and what's this about a rat?"

Either Red had gotten into the act pretty quickly, or there really was a rat there, because she started rambling about one in the laundry room.

"Well then, I'll just have a looksee," Little John barged in, and Lacey swore she heard a small growl from the recently turned woman behind her.

It would turn out that there was a rat, probably left over from Snow's magical number with New York's finest vermin. It was swiftly dealt with, thrown out so it could join its brethren in the underground of the city.

* * *

Regina was absolutely fascinated with supermarkets. She had found town markets in her own world already exquisite enough, but this was phenomenal.

"The fresh produce looks so bright!" she said in awe. Looking at the apple section, she seemed absolutely captivated by the sixteen different types on display.

Emma just chuckled, happy to see that Regina seemed so content by something so simple like all the fruits the local supermarket carried.

"This is incredible, I feel like buying one of everything in the store," she told Emma with a contagious grin.

"Well, buying one of every product might be a bit hard, I do have a budget," Emma explained, wincing slightly. Although she was generally well-off, enough to have a decent apartment; she wasn't made of money, and grocery shopping could get expensive.

Being a queen, Regina was well-experienced in finances, so she could understand Emma's talk on budgeting. "Of course. We'll stick to the essentials then."

"You don't have to be so meticulous about it. I just mean that we can't buy the whole shop. But if you want to try something new, I'm sure we can afford it," Emma assured her.

So they perused aisles upon aisles of items; Regina insisted on pausing for everything, and Emma was more than glad to explain what everything was and how it was prepared. By the time they had entered the frozen food aisle, their cart was nearly overflowing, but the smile Regina had made Emma want to buy her everything.

It was just as they were about to head to the checkout that Regina realized the immensity of what Emma was doing, and how rare it felt to have something like this happen to her. "I really do appreciate what you're doing… I- I've never really had anyone care so much and-" she broke off, scared of all these foreign emotions she was feeling. She looked down and away, hoping Emma was too focused on placing all their purchases on the strange moving table to notice the tears welling up in her eyes.

"Hey," Emma softly said, clearly noticing. She paused on unloading their cart, having run out of space since the cashier was still processing everything from the person in front of them, and placed a hand over one of Regina's, who was gripping the cart's handle so tightly that her knuckles were white. She rubbed her thumb soothingly as she said, "Look, I might not know much about your past Regina, but getting to know you recently, I can tell that you've had some pretty shitty stuff happening to you lately, so I think you deserve to have something good happen to you instead. And if it's something as simple as going grocery shopping so you can go to town later baking pastries, then I will gladly help, okay?"

Right then, Regina was looking at Emma as if she had grown another head. Could such a kind of altruism actually exist? "I suppose that when I got sucked into the portal, the last thing I had been expecting was to find your small family. And you are correct, my life hasn't been precisely simple or even enjoyable. With my moniker, you can imagine the kind of life I had. I was told that this was a land with no happy endings, so when Snow tricked me, I thought this was going to be yet another obstacle for me to power through, but this was a pleasant alternative."

Emma smiled widely at the end. "Well I don't know who claimed we were such a dreary place, but they're wrong. And besides, I think you seemed due for your luck to change."

"But I've done some terrible things, why would I be offered this? Fate isn't ever this kind."

Going back to continue depositing more of their purchases onto the conveyer belt, Emma thought for a moment before she said, "Look I'm not a professional with these kinds of things, so maybe all of this is bullshit, but in my experience, if you can admit that what you did was bad, then that's a first step to showing that you've changed. Like I told you, I'm not exactly innocent, but I managed to change because someone believed in me and encouraged me to change. The minute something clicks, you just need to go with it and let it take you where you want. Even though I'm not a believer in fate or predestined happenings, if everything that happened led you here, then I think you got a pretty good deal, and you should just take it. Maybe once you get back to your home, you'll find that your stay here helped you."

Regina nodded, but then got a pensive face as she haltingly said, "Actually…I was perhaps wondering, maybe I wouldn't mind staying here, in New York."

Emma gave Regina a wide smile, finishing putting the final products on the belt, and then placing a bar behind everything so the guy behind them could start putting his stuff. "Really? You're liking it here?"

"Surprisingly enough, immensely so. Like you said, I don't know if this world was mislabelled, but I think I might be able to find happiness here."

They stopped talking when the cashier greeted them, and Regina watched in fascination as everything was scanned and bagged. Once finished, Emma paid, and they loaded their bags onto their cart, before heading to the Bug to put everything away, somehow managing the impossible and fitting everything. The ride back was filled with Regina asking many questions about this world, determined to learn as much as she could now that she was going to stay.


	7. That's How You Know

Emma wouldn't exactly say she was smitten with Regina, but she was finding herself smiling more around her. The moment she realized she had maybe fallen for her guest happened while she was working. After they had gotten back from their grocery shopping, Emma got to work while Regina took to the kitchen.

She had lost track of time but suddenly someone was covering her eyes with one hand, and behind her, a familiar voice said, "Okay, honest opinion, taste this."

"What?" Emma blurted, disoriented.

Regina let out an audible sigh. "I've got something on the palm of my hand, you need to take it, eat it, and then tell me how it tastes."

"But why do I have to have my eyes covered?" Emma asked. "I'm not going to be able to taste better if my eyes are closed, you know that right?"

"Will you just take it? I want to see if it tastes like it's supposed to in this world, without you knowing what it is."

Emma felt around to grab the pastry from Regina's warm hands, and couldn't help but snark, "I can tell this is a cupcake by the shape."

Huffing, she removed her hand from Emma's eyes and moved around to sit on the edge of Emma's desk in front of her. "You are a party pooper."

"Learning our modern slang I see," Emma commented before she gleefully bit in to the blue-frosted treat. "'Dis ish good!"

Regina grinned at the compliment, and gave a half-hearted scowl as she playfully reprimanded, "At least swallow before you speak, dear."

Emma levelled her with a mock glare, but still did as Regina asked. When she was done, she said, "I was gonna say: you really have a talent for this. And anyway, now that you're going to be staying, any chance on that shop opening up?"

It was at that moment, right when Regina tilted her head in thought, biting her lip lightly as she pondered her decision, that Emma was certain she had fallen hard. Between the stylish shorter hair plus the fashionable skirt and blazer combo that complimented her body so well, she was absolutely stunning. Add that to the fact that Emma was enjoying Regina's company immensely, finding that she wanted to be the cause for Regina's smiles, to be around her more often, get to know her more, and Emma was certain that she was a goner.

Of course, she still knew that Regina had her sketchy past – assuming that the whole fairy tale thing was true, though Emma still remained iffy about that – she wasn't going to dismiss that just because she was attracted to her. But like her mother had pointed out, Regina was clearly not actively seeking to hurt her or Henry, and she seemed willing to change. If Emma could be part of that and help her, she would be honoured to do so.

"I think I might try. Perhaps I could speak to Jas about it?" Regina finally settled with, looking at Emma to see what her opinion on the matter was.

She nodded enthusiastically. "That sounds like an awesome idea. I'll let her know about it and she'll probably get you to swing by tomorrow."

Regina took a few seconds to realize that Emma didn't literally mean swing, and when she did notice, she gave a soft smile. Oh, how much Emma made her grin. It had been a long time since she had felt such levity, and she felt like she could take on the world, and even seeing Snow couldn't dampen her mood.

* * *

The rest of the week continued peacefully. On Thursday, Regina spoke at length with Jasmine, which included plenty of talk on financial matters such as setting up a bank account, getting ready to ask for loans and investments, considering the costs of a place, what location to get, as well as ordering ingredients and hiring workers. By Friday afternoon, Regina had opened her own bank account under the name Regina Mills, after a long debate on last names in the morning, since apparently Regina didn't have one originally.

"How do you go your whole life without a last name?" Emma had asked, appalled. They were sitting on the living room couch, still nursing their morning coffee. Henry was already at school, so they were free to lounge around and talk.

Regina seemed puzzled at Emma's reaction. "I don't know why it's such a big deal. It was always so-and-so from this kingdom if they were royals or nobles. Otherwise it was just their profession."

"Okay, so you were a queen, what kingdom were you ruler of?" was Emma's conclusion to decipher the conundrum that was giving Regina a last name.

"The Dark Kingdom," Regina simply responded.

Emma had first thought she was kidding, but at the straight faced expression, she was forced to realize that Regina was being 100% serious. "Okay, Regina Dark sounds ridiculous. With a name like that I wouldn't trust you with a spoon let alone let you have a bank account. How about your parents?"

That had warranted a scowl for Emma, who shrunk away the slightest bit. "Sore subject?"

Regina nodded, but then took a deep breath and said, "My father used to be a prince, fifth in line for the throne, but he was disowned after he married my mother and she was found to be a fraud who had bribed and tricked to being accepted as an appropriate bride for my father."

"Whoa, were things always that intense? I thought fairy tales were all happy and positive?" At Regina's expression, Emma conceded that Disney didn't particularly seem like an adequate measure, especially considering Grimm was another option for fairy tales, and those were much darker. "Okay fair enough, you guys went all Games of Thrones with each other. So what did your mom fake?"

There were many answers she could give Emma. She faked loving her daughter, her husband, having a heart, the list went on. "She pretended she could spin straw into gold."

"Are all fairy tales this intertwined?" Emma asked, recalling the story of the young woman who claimed she could do just that.

She shrugged. "I suppose so."

From Regina's expression, Emma had garnered something, and decided to voice her thoughts. "Your mother was part of that shitty past, wasn't she?"

Saying nothing, Regina looked away and sipped some of her coffee. Emma didn't press, for which she was thankful, instead letting Regina decide whether to just change the subject, or talk. "She was heartless, quite literally, and throughout all the years I was growing up, my mother saw fit to mould me into the perfect daughter by punishing even my smallest infractions."

Emma listened as Regina explained being punished for having fun by magically restraining her, being scolded for even looking vaguely bored, the punishments were terrible. By the end of it, Emma put her coffee down and wordlessly took Regina into her arms, hoping that she wasn't being too forward.

Regina didn't push her away, instead she burrowed deeper, thankful for the comfort. She let out a shuddering breath, unsure of what to say.

"Shh, it's okay, I've got you, you're safe," Emma murmured.

"I know," Regina responded, because she truly did know that being around Emma made her feel safe, and she felt like she was welcomed into this little house and was wanted. It was a feeling that she wanted to continue experiencing and never let go.

After a few minutes, Regina continued, “Things changed when my mother hired a stable boy to help. His name was Daniel, and he was my first lover. We would sneak out some days, under the guise of him teaching me to ride, and we would travel to this old abandoned mill house. We’d pretend we lived there sometimes, together and away from any responsibilities and the rest of society.”

Emma smiled as Regina recounted her memories, but her lips slowly downturned as Regina got to Daniel’s eventual murder at the hands of her mother. “From that moment on, I let anger fuel me. My mother had murdered Daniel, but it was only because Snow had babbled after being explicitly told to keep a secret. Surely a fourteen-year-old knew better than to blab to whoever asked?”

“She should,” Emma agreed.

Regina sighed and continued, “You can imagine how the rest went, and how I got to be the Evil Queen. Although I can’t claim to be innocent, what infuriates me is that I’m treated as if I’m an absolute terror, but Snow White is the paragon of good and everything right.”

Emma found she could say nothing, and instead just tightened her hold, rubbing soothing circles on Regina’s back.

Deciding that she was enjoying this, Regina didn’t dare move away, and she smiled as she asked, “So, what about that last name?”

Humming, Emma pondered for a moment and said, “How about Mills? You mentioned the mill house, and it wouldn’t involve any nasty memories or heritage?”

Regina moved to look at Emma and gave her a small grin. “Sounds perfect.”

As they sat there a few moments longer, Regina felt that this could certainly count as a happy ending. Perhaps Snow’s wish had come true, in some bizarre turn of events, and she was getting her heart’s desire. Heart’s desire… she harkened back to what Rumpelstiltskin had said, about the bean being able to give her what she wanted the most. He had never mentioned what it would be, she had just assumed it was ending Snow White, but maybe the imp had foreseen this.

But she didn’t mind having been partially deceived. If she had managed to get her happy ending, then she could consider herself to be the happiest woman in the world.

* * *

The next day, Saturday, found Regina, Henry and Emma walking around Central Park. She had yet to visit this part of the city, and she was absolutely fascinated. She had already managed to convince Emma to take her to the Metropolitan Museum of Art sometime soon; the idea of museums seemed intriguing to her.

“Now, lunch!” Henry gleefully exclaimed, looking at his mom for confirmation.

“Alright, alright, go on and start going to the line,” Emma acquiesced. Without waiting for another second – lest he wanted to risk her changing her mind – Henry zoomed off, leaving Regina to look questioningly at Emma.

“What’s he so excited about?” Regina asked.

“Hotdogs. I leave them as something he can only have occasionally, and he gets kinda excited when I let him have them,” Emma explained. Seeing that Regina looked no less confused, Emma added, “A hotdog is a wiener, which is a long and thin sausage with meat in it, and you eat it in a bun with lots of condiments.”

Regina’s face morphed from confusion to a mix between apprehension and absolute disgust. “That doesn’t sound appetizing at all…”

Emma shrugged. “It’s actually quite tasty.”

Half an hour later, the trio was sitting at a table, Henry across from the two women who were sitting beside one another, and Regina was staring at her hotdog as if she was expecting it to come to life and attack her.

“You know, you can’t eat it by staring it to death,” Emma riposted around a mouthful of her own hotdog.

Deciding to take a leap of faith, she took a bite. After masticating it for a few moments she swallowed and deemed it to not have been that bad, and said as much.

Emma grinned like the cat who ate the canary. “Great, we’re slowly converting you to a natural New Yorker.”

Regina just made a face at Emma and continued eating.

Henry, who had been happily munching his lunch, swallowed and turned to Regina as he asked, “So, if you’re staying in New York, does that mean that it’s your happy ending? The home you were talking about?”

“I like to think so, it’s definitely feeling more like home than the Enchanted Forest ever did,” Regina responded with a smile.

 Nodding thoughtfully, he continued, “What about your true love?”

“ _Henry_ , don’t pester her.” Emma said in a warning tone.

“It’s quite alright, I don’t mind,” Regina waved it off. “As for my true love, I suppose we’ll see. It’s not something automatic or instantaneous. It builds.”

Henry seemed perplexed with this development. “I thought true love happened at first sight?”

Regina let out a chuckle. “Oh it most certainly doesn’t. I mean, it could happen to some, but it doesn’t always happen.”

“Then how does it happen?” Henry asked.

Emma responded, “Sometimes you don’t register that you might even like them. Maybe the first time you meeut t them, you think they’re crazy.”

Regina nodded. “Or perhaps you are angry at them for no real reason after a long day.”

“And eventually you find yourself talking to them again, and you see them in a new light.”

“After that, you decide to open yourself up to giving this a chance, to let someone get to know you after closing yourself off to everyone.”

“Next thing you know, you realize that she is gorgeous.”

“You realize that you enjoy talking to them immensely and you look forward to talking to her, even about the most inconsequential things.”

“It gets to the point that you want to be the one to make her smile and laugh.”

“Oh yes, and you want to be the cause for her happiness as much as you can, you even make little treats for… her.”

Henry had been looking between the two women as if he were watching a tennis match. The two women meanwhile were looking at each other. They had begun speaking looking at Henry, but as they started to complement each other’s sentences, they began to turn to one another, especially when they shifted from talking about a vague ‘them’ to ‘her’ and ‘she’.

When Regina finished, she was slightly gaping, but Henry seemingly was clueless as he asked, “So, do you think you’ll find someone?”

Still looking at Emma, Regina smiled a bit and said, “I hope so.”

* * *

About an hour later, Regina and Emma were returning to the apartment without Henry, who had gone to a friend’s house. The ride back had been filled with the usual questions of trying to understand this world, and Emma answering as best as she could. Neither spoke of what happened at the park, but they were both thinking about it.

“So, do you want to watch a movie?” Emma asked, closing the door.

Not hearing anything, she turned around, and found Regina staring intently at her. “Everything okay?”

Regina silently nodded, and moved a few steps forward so that they were less than an arm’s length away from each other. She bit her lip, glancing at Emma’s own for a moment before saying, “If I misunderstood everything, please forgive me.”

Before Emma could try to make sense, she saw Regina surge forward, hands going to cradle Emma’s cheeks. She stopped a breadth away, eyes on Emma’s.

Finally understanding, Emma closed the gap between them, joining their lips in a kiss.

It was sweet and short, almost as if Regina was shy. When they parted, Regina lowered her hands and gave a sheepish smile. Emma for her part, decided the kiss hadn’t been enough, and kissed Regina again. This one had much more passion in it, Emma was sure Regina moaned at one point, and her own knees buckled. When they broke apart once again, they were breathless, cheeks rosy, but both sporting satisfied smiles.

“So,” Emma asked, entwining her arms around Regina’s torso. “Movie?”

* * *

When Henry entered the apartment the next morning, he found his mom and Regina cuddling together on the couch, the television still on, showing the silent menu of some romantic comedy that he had seen posters of a year ago when it was set to premiere in theatres. Behind him, Ingrid let out a small chuckle.

On the way home, he had confided to his grandmother about his master plan yesterday. He wasn’t blind, he could see how they looked at each other, so he could at least try to play matchmaker… or at least nudge them in the right direction. He might be a kid, but he was intuitive, and everyone always said he was smart for his age. When the door closed, the two slumbering women startled awake, glancing at the door and then at each other.

Regina had her head resting on Emma’s chest, while Emma’s arms cocooned her. As they awoke, Regina untangled herself from Emma, and gave the blonde a soft smile.

“Morning already?” Emma mumbled, raking a hand through her hair as she yawned.

Ingrid chuckled and made her way to the kitchen. “Yep, now up up up! I’ll be making brunch since it’s almost noon and you need to be properly fed. And you can also clean up last night’s dinner Emma.”

Emma let out a soft groan at being mothered not even five minutes after being woken up but still got to work, Regina helping her to gather the take-out boxes. She had introduced Regina to the wonders of Chinese take-out, even teaching her how to use chopsticks. Much to Emma’s chagrin, Regina seemed to be a natural and got the knack for using the tricky utensils in no time. Meanwhile it had taken Emma over seven months to get her fine motor skills to stop flicking her dumplings across the table, so she did feel a bit jealous.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just as an FYI: I am well-aware I changed the ages and timeline with Regina’s backstory.


	8. Planning for the Future

Elsewhere in New York City, Lacey woke up to an empty bed and a not-so-happy discussion happening outside her door.

Stepping outside of her room, she saw her three guests standing in her living room, all of them in various degrees of anger. After having spent a few days in this world, the trio had slowly adapted to the modern world…in a way. Snow had managed to get David into modern clothes, though the man insisted on having his sword on his person at all times, just in case.

Lacey meanwhile, was in charge of helping Red transition to this world, finding that she was a lot less intimidating when she wasn’t baring fangs, or distractingly naked. After having decreed that Lacey was her lover to Little John, they had fallen into a hell-knows-what-this-was, as Lacey had coined it in her head. They slept together, they traded kisses, but didn’t speak about it. It was all very confusing, and in the five days they had been in New York, Lacey had been through a never-ending whirlwind of confusion.

Not that she was expecting anything less; considering that she was housing three fairy tale characters who were so deep-rooted in their medieval ways, trying to teach them anything always proved to be a mission and a half. More than once Lacey wanted to bang her head against the wall, but thankfully she had managed to settle for just rolling her eyes and sighing.

“What’s going on?” Lacey asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

David answered, turning to her. “I was just telling Snow that I think we should head home now. There is little point in us staying here.”

“But what about sightseeing?” Snow asked, looking at David with pleading eyes. “This world looks like it holds wondrous secrets and we can explore more!”

“You want to stay here…indefinitely?” David countered, crossing his arms in front of him, looking none-too-pleased with the idea.

Snow shook her head. “Not forever...just for a little while longer.”

“I actually agree with Snow, I think staying here for a little while longer would be a good idea,” Red added, winking at Lacey – who did _not_ blush at all at the gesture. “Plus I kinda like it here.”

David thought about it for a moment. “Very well. But we should at least let Blue know that we’re fine.”

So they rang the bell they had been given, and summoned the Blue Fairy by calling her name.

Lacey gasped as a tiny woman appeared, dressed entirely in rich blue – even her fluttering _wings were blue_ , Lacey remarked – this was beyond bizarre, even more than the two most famous royals in Disney lore, and the woman who could turn into a legit wolf. This was a fairy.

Clearly, Lacey hadn’t been the only one perplexed. As soon as she finished materializing, Blue began to look around the apartment, letting out a string of “Oh!” each one louder and more nonplussed than before. Then her eyes landed on the Charmings and settled with an “Ah,” before growing to normal size.

“It’s good to see you, my friends,” Blue said, smiling at them. “And I’m glad to see you in good health, dear Snow. I was worried the portal would’ve been a bit too rough for you, especially with this world as the destination.”

Snow beamed and responded, “Oh I’m fine, portal travelling isn’t fun, but I suppose it wasn’t all that bad. And this world is just marvelous!”

Blue turned her lips somewhere between a smile and a grimace. “I see.”

It was then she noticed Lacey, and she asked, “You are?”

“This is Lacey,” Red responded. “She’s been giving us a place to stay.”

Once more, Blue didn’t seem all that happy with the new fact, so she ignored Lacey and turned back to Snow and David. “Well, how can I help you?”

David answered, “We just wanted to inform you we were fine, we’re going to be staying here for a little while longer to see the sights before returning.”

“But what about the Evil Queen?” Blue asked.

Snow and David looked at one another, blinking. “I got separated from her while in the portal, and I haven’t heard from her since coming here, so perhaps she didn’t land in this world?”

Blue shook her head. “No, bean portals can only go one place. Different beans might take you different places, but both of you went into the same bean portal, hence she’s here somewhere.”

“Perhaps she’s been locked up?” Red suggested.

David snorted. “As if anyone in this world would be able to contain her.”

“If she’s without her magic, then she could,” Blue offered as an offhand comment.

“What do you mean?” Snow looked puzzled at the fairy, eyes scrunched as she tried to piece together what her friend had said.

“I heard from a very good source that Regina traded her magic for the bean that took you both here,” Blue explained. “But it’s only for a limited time, and there’s only one week left.”

“Okay, so we leave before the week is over,” David concluded.

The more Lacey was hearing about this Evil Queen, the more unpleasant she sounded. “And then what?” she piped up, “What will she do to us?”

Blue looked surprised, as if she hadn’t been expecting Lacey to talk. But then she nodded and pointed her wand at Lacey. “Precisely my point.”

When Snow and David didn’t look convinced, Blue continued to explain, talking of evilness and cruel intentions and finally ending with, “you wouldn’t leave an entire land at the mercy of the Evil Queen, would you?”

That did it for them, and they acquiesced. “What do we do?”

The fairy explained that they should strive to gather their efforts to find and incarcerate Regina before next Sunday, lest they wanted her to regain her powers and wreak havoc all over the city. “Once you have her, put this cuff on her.”

She held out a leather cuff that, to Lacey, looked like it could’ve come from any cheap grunge store. Snow took it as it if was a precious jewel, cupping both hands underneath it.

“What will it do?” Red asked.

Blue turned to Red with the faintest of sneers, as if explaining this was beneath her. “It will make sure she remains without her magic.”

Before long, Blue left, and Lacey found she could breathe easier. A few minutes later, Lacey went to prepare breakfast, while Snow and David were poring over a giant map of Manhattan that Lacey had fished out from a corner of her bookcase.

“How can I help?” Red asked, planting a kiss on Lacey’s cheek before coming to stand beside her, back leaning against the counter, arms crossed, the epitome of a ‘cool’ pose.

Deciding she felt brave today, Lacey said, “You could try and tell me what we are.”

“Er…what?”

Turning sideways, she elaborated. “Us. We’re technically dating, but at the same time not, because we haven’t actually been on a date, and you won’t put a name to this.”

Red tilted her head a bit in confusion, making her look kind of adorable. “A date…is that what Snow and Charming did the other day?”

Lacey nodded, biting her lower lip ever so slightly.

Grinning, Red went to give her a peck on the lips. “Then on a date we shall go. I wasn’t sure how customs went in this world, and to be honest, I was somewhat weary about asking you.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re super smart, and I didn’t want to seem incredibly dumb,” Red mumbled.

Lacey shook her head. “I’d never think that. You’re getting used to a whole different society.”

Red looked ecstatic at hearing that, and she surged forward to kiss Lacey slowly.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at Emma’s house, Ingrid was eagerly listening to Regina’s plans to open up her own pastry shop. The three of them were finishing eating breakfast, Henry had long escaped to his room, excited to play a game that a friend had loaned him.

“Now all I need is a venue,” Regina finished.

With a hum, Emma added, “Yeah, places aren’t cheap right now.”

Ingrid looked at Emma accusingly. “Honestly Emma, didn’t you offer her the place beside my shop? I told you last week that it was empty, and I know the realtor, we could get a discount!”

Emma’s eyes widened. “When did you say that?”

“Last week, you were….” Ingrid paused, then a predatory smirk appeared on her face. “Oh that’s right, you were shopping with Regina that day…it was right before you hung up on me.”

While Regina turned to face Emma, the latter was flushing red. “Right, that day. I was distracted.”

“I’m sure,” Ingrid playfully remarked, and then she began to get excited. “Anyway Regina, you’re more than welcome to come with me tomorrow to look at the place, I’ll get in touch with the realtor so he can give me the keys. We might even be able to tear down the middle wall and combine the places.”

Regina seemed ecstatic at the idea, and began bouncing ideas that she’d had. Emma chuckled and left to take their plates away, allowing her mother and girlfriend to continue talking.

 _Girlfriend_ , the term made Emma smile. She wasn’t sure where they stood at the moment, but she hoped Regina would be open to the idea of them dating.

As if sensing that Emma had been thinking about her, Regina appeared in the kitchen.

Emma smiled and said, “Hey, you guys done talking shop?”

While Regina wasn’t too sure what talking shop meant, she could surmise enough to guess. “For now. She said we would talk more tomorrow while we were at the shop. She went to go play video games with Henry.”

“Ah, yeah, she’s kind of a gamer nut,” Emma nodded with a smile.

Regina chuckled and nodded. “Personally, I would rather try to finish understanding this world before tackling the virtual one.”

Oh the day Regina discovered the internet would be one hell of a day, Emma thought. “A sound idea.”

After thinking for a second, Regina walked closer to Emma and brought the blonde’s face to her for a kiss. When they parted, Regina chuckled at Emma’s goofy grin. “I was actually wondering…”

“Yes?” Emma prompted, grin still in place.

“In the movie last night, the couple went out on a date…would you be interested in doing something like that as well?”

Emma nodded enthusiastically. “I’d love it if we did.”

Regina seemed ecstatic and blurted, “Wonderful! Tonight?”

“Yeah, I can get Ingrid to watch Henry, and we can go to this restaurant that opened up recently,” Emma explained.

“I can’t wait,” Regina murmured happily, moving her lips closer to Emma’s once more.


	9. Young Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Emma’s dress for the date is based on New York City Serenade.  
> Regina’s is based on Bleeding Through.

“So what do you think?” Emma asked, holding her arms out to the side, showcasing her short black leather dress with black stockings to complete the look.

Henry and Ingrid, who were sitting in the living room watching tv, both smiled and nodded their approval.

“You look great mom!”

Ingrid nodded her agreement. “Now remember-“

Emma groaned, “Come on mom, not the dating schpiel.”

“Emma Swan, I will give you the dating schpiel if I want to, and you will listen to it,” Ingrid intoned in a mock-strict voice.

“Dating schpiel?” a voice asked from behind Emma.

Turning around to face her date, Emma was outright left gaping. Regina was wearing a sleek blue dress with sleeves that went past her elbows, and a single thin deep purple sash around her waist. “You-you-“

Regina gave a small smirk before planting a kiss at the corner of Emma’s mouth. “You look gorgeous as well. Shall we get going?”

Emma nodded dumbly, and Ingrid just chuckled. She had helped Regina pick a dress, since the younger woman was quite indecisive on what to wear.

“You kids have fun,” Ingrid said with a mischievous wink.

* * *

When they arrived at the restaurant, they were told to wait for a few minutes.

“Will you excuse me for a moment?” Regina asked, “I have to go to the washroom.”

“Yeah of course,” Emma nodded, smiling at Regina’s formality. “If we get called I’ll let you know.”

Emma watched Regina leave and then looked around to the other guests waiting, and recognized someone. Walking over, she called out, “Hey Lacey!”

Lacey whipped around and grinned at Emma when she saw her. “Hey you! How’s it going?”

“Good, here on a date, you?”

“Same,” Lacey responded with a chuckle, gesturing to her partner for the evening, a pretty tall and lanky brunette.

Said brunette extended her hand out to Emma. “I’m Ruby.”

“Emma, nice to meet you,” Emma responded, shaking the proffered hand. “Oh, quite a grip you’ve got there,” she added with a nervous chuckle, willing her bones to survive the crushing force.

“Sorry!” Ruby apologized with a sheepish smile. “Sometimes I don’t know my own strength.”

“Totally fine,” Emma waved it off.

Before they could say anything, Emma’s name was called, so she said goodbye to the couple.

“Well you’ve met one of my friends,” Lacey said with a smile, turning to her date. Seeing Red’s confused frown, she asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing…it’s just that she smells familiar, I just can’t place how or where,” Red explained. “I’m certain I never met her before…”

Lacey shrugged, just as confused. “Beats me. I did live with her for a while, so maybe some of my things smell like her?”

“Maybe.”

* * *

While on her way to the table, Emma crossed paths with Regina, and together they were eventually seated.

Throughout dinner, they talked at length, about everything from the modern world to medieval customs – “You mean you guys still have the feudal system?” – Henry – “So he’ll still be in school when he becomes a teenager? He’s not expected to just begin working as a page?” – Emma’s job – “There’s just something about being able to capture a moment forever in a still image.” – Regina’s aspirations for her pastry shop – “I’m not expecting it to be a ‘hit’ as Ingrid is sure it will be, but it will be nice to make a living from something so simple,” – and even more simple stuff like their favourite colour.

“Really, light blue?” Emma asked with a chuckle.

Regina raised an eyebrow. “What’s wrong with light blue?”

“Nothing’s wrong with it, but the dress you were wearing, that medieval number you were sporting when you popped out of the fountain, were all dark colours, I thought you would’ve gone for the darker tones.”

“Well, as you’ll learn, I’m full of surprises,” Regina smirked, taking a sip of her wine.

By the time they finished dinner – Emma insisted on footing the bill – and they walked out of the restaurant, hand-in-hand, both women were even more smitten with the other, if that was actually possible.

“I really enjoyed tonight,” Regina said after a few moments of silence.

Emma grinned and brought their entwined hands to her lips, kissing the back of Regina’s hand. “Me too. Maybe we can do this again sometime soon?”

Regina nodded enthusiastically. “Since I lack the means to pay for another date myself, I’ll cook for you, give you a scrumptious feast.”

“That sounds heavenly,” Emma said with a happy sigh, moving to give Regina a kiss on the lips.

* * *

On Monday morning, after breakfast, Ingrid took Regina to her shop. “Alright, Steve will be here by nine, meanwhile, I figured we could talk.”

Regina knew well enough that a parent wanting to ‘talk’ while she was dating her daughter meant quite the inquisition for her. “Very well, what about?” she asked, feigning innocence.

“Let’s sit first,” Ingrid said. The shop wasn’t open yet, so they were free to sit by one of the small round tables, across from each other.

Since Regina was looking expectantly at her, Ingrid decided to start. “So, you’re dating my daughter….” Regina nodded yes, and Ingrid continued. “Despite not being her birth mother, I’ll protect her to my last breath, and Henry as well. So I will do my best to make sure she won’t get her heart broken, _especially_ if said girlfriend is the Evil Queen.”

Regina had been nodding along for the duration of Ingrid’s explanation, since it seemed like a fair position to take, but froze when Ingrid mentioned her moniker. “Wait, you…believe me?”

“That you’re the Evil Queen?” Ingrid asked. At Regina’s confirmation, Ingrid said, “Well I hope it’s a former title, but yes. Coming from a neighbouring land to the Enchanted Forest, it’s not so hard to believe.”

“You…you’re from my world?” Regina asked with a nervous anticipation. “What land?”

“Arendelle,” Ingrid responded quietly.

Regina nodded in understanding. Arendelle had gone through quite the political unrest when she had been a child, the royal family had been thrown out by force due to some brutes from the Southern Isles, twelve brothers who demanded the throne, and had bribed the Arendelle army to turn on the royals. “You escaped here?”

Ingrid nodded. “Yes. Along with my two sisters, as well as Gerda’s husband Walter, and their two children, we escaped into the dead of night. After a week of mindless wandering in the Enchanted Forest, Rumpelstiltskin appeared with an offer similar to yours, from what I heard.”

“You have magic?” Regina blurted.

“Had. He took my magic for two weeks originally, but as the years passed, I noted that having powers here was not normal, so I hid them, stopped using them, lost touch with that side of me. After an accident many years ago, my powers were lost altogether, perhaps with the shock of having lost my two sisters as well.”

“I’m very sorry to hear that,” Regina said, feeling truly repentant for the sad turn the story had taken.

Ingrid waved it off. “It was many years ago. Walter and his two daughters, Elsa and Anna are happily living up in Canada, they sometimes come down to visit. But I digress. The point that I was getting at is that I am certain that you are exactly who you say you are, or were in the other land. But I want you to promise me you will never drag Emma into whatever feud you have with Snow White. Emma and Henry deserve someone that will love them both unconditionally, not having to share affections with hatred and revenge, am I clear?”

Regina nodded once more, a bit numb at the change of pace with the conversation. “I promise. It will take me a while to fully get rid of the anger I feel for Snow, but for Emma and Henry, I am willing to do anything. I have truly fallen for Emma, she is everything I could’ve hoped for in a perfect partner, and Henry is just all kinds of adorable and wonderful. My only wish is that I don’t mess this up since I really want to become a part of this family one day, and I am loathe to think that I might do something to lose them.”

Seeming convinced, Ingrid nodded and smiled. “Oh, I wouldn’t worry; Emma herself seems pretty smitten with you.”

Blushing, Regina said nothing. But then she grew serious again and said, “I’m just concerned that when my magic returns, she won’t see me the same way.”

“Well, I can’t promise Emma won’t freak out. She has always been a very analytical person, if something isn’t easily explained, she usually dismisses it as fiction, but I doubt she’ll stop liking you just because you have magic. If anything, you might open her up to welcome the more outlandish and mystical things. Trust me.”

Regina did, and she hoped Ingrid was right. She supposed that by that time next week, she would see whether it was true or not.

* * *

For the rest of the week, Regina continued baking, setting up a small booth at Ingrid’s shop, giving a little sneak peek of things to come. She managed to rent out the place beside Ingrid’s, and together, along with Emma, they began to plan the look and feel of the place, discussing colours, placements, and themes. Even Henry was pitching in ideas, and they were having a grand time laughing and joking around.

By Thursday, Regina was once more in the kitchen, putting the finishing touches in her newest batch of pastries that she would hand out tomorrow. Taking one, she put it in a plate and headed to Emma’s office, setting the plate down on the desk, giving Emma a kiss on the cheek. “I require your services as a taste tester.”

Emma grinned and paused her work, grabbing the plate and taking a whiff of the pastry. “Smells delicious. At this rate, I think I’ll start charging for my services.”

“ _You’ll_ be charging?” Regina asked, incredulous. “More like _I’ll_ be charging _you_. And Henry. Both of you start pilfering food all in the name of taste-testing, until I’m left with empty plates and eager faces wanting more.”

“Don’t pretend you don’t find it endearing and that you love it,” Emma cheekily responded before taking a bite out of it. “Hmm, apples and cinnamon! It’s delicious.”

Regina beamed at the compliment. “Apple turnovers have always been a specialty of mine.”

“I can see why. Then again, everything you make is great,” Emma added with a content smile.

Chuckling, Regina leaned forward and kissed Emma’s lips, tasting a bit of the cinnamon. When they parted, Regina murmured against Emma’s lips, “You flatter me too much, but thank you.”

“But I like flattering you, you get this adorable blush,” Emma countered, sitting back in her chair.

Regina huffed and rolled her eyes, but Emma saw the blush and the smile that Regina just couldn’t hide, no matter how much she bit her lower lip.

* * *

On Friday, after Regina returned from her daily advertising for her shop, she excitedly walked over to Emma, who was working on the couch, and held out a flyer in front of her face.

“Hey, what’s this?” Emma asked with a chuckle, moving to take the flyer from Regina’s hand. She quickly skimmed over the words and then read it again. “A ball?”

Regina sat down on the couch by Emma’s feet, facing her girlfriend, a wide smile in place. “Yes! I figured this would be a wonderful chance for you to experience something akin to my world.”

Emma read the details. One night of extravagant dresses and medieval finery; plenty of dancing and music, as well as exquisite food and drinks. It was in a week, being held at the Woolworth Building. “Sounds like a party, I’m in!”

“You are?” While Regina had hoped that Emma would agree, she was worried Emma might be a bit reluctant about it since she was still not fully convinced that Regina was a fairy tale character. Even Henry believed her, but Emma was still a sceptic. It was understandable, Regina’s only wish was that when her magic came back, it wouldn’t scare Emma way. She kept Ingrid’s words in her mind to help reassure her.

“Of course! It sounds like fun, and I’ve never been to a ball, so you can show me the ropes,” Emma responded with a grin.

“Great, there’s a place marked on the flyer where we can get our dresses,” Regina noted, pointing to an addendum on the piece of paper.

* * *

 

The next day, Regina excitedly took Emma’s hand in her own and led her inside the shop, Henry having already excitedly ran inside before them. Although he wasn’t going to the ball, he was still ecstatic to be able to help them choose. Regina’s dress had been easy to find, it was a pale blue – nearly white – dress, with a puffed up skirt and a very low collar, miniscule beads around the bodice, and the tiny gossamer sleeves hanging off her upper arms to show off her shoulders. It had left Emma speechless, much to Regina’s enjoyment, and she had received a kiss to the cheek before Regina went back to the changing room to get out of the dress.

Emma’s however, had proven a bit more complicated. Eventually, Emma decided to wander to the other side of the store by herself, to look at different types of clothing. Once she had found something, she didn’t let neither Regina nor Henry look at it. When Emma came back out, it was Regina’s turn to be speechless.

Regina raked her eyes over her girlfriend’s body, appreciating the way the suit fit her just perfectly. Stark white pants went up to a grey vest with gilded buttons and trims. Completing the look was a dark navy blue jacket with lapels that went to the back of her knees.

“So?” Emma asked, even doing a full turn so they could get a look at the back. She was currently barefooted, but she would find a pair of black boots to add.

“Very cool,” was Henry’s verdict.

Regina meanwhile only stood up, and walked up to Emma, cupping her cheeks and kissing her.

They heard Henry let out a sigh before leaving to explore the rest of the shop, leaving the two women kissing.

“I’m guessing you like it?” Emma breathlessly asked as they broke apart.

“I love it. You could pass off as nobility in my world.”

Giving a confident smirk, Emma riposted, “How about princess Charming?”

“Honestly,” Regina scoffed and lightly slapped her arm. “Besides, you actually have brains, something the _actual_ Charming lacks.”

Emma chuckled and stole another kiss before they wrapped things up and went to the register. Henry was insisting that Emma should get a sword, but she vehemently denied, saying there was no point to it.

After they were done, they dropped off their costumes and headed to a pizzeria, and as they ate, Regina smiled fondly seeing how the little Swan family had easily integrated her as one of their own, telling her about inside jokes and helping explain some modern concepts.

It really was perfect, and not for the first time, Regina truly felt that this was exactly what she had wished for when thinking about her happy ending so many years ago.

* * *

Emma was roused from sleep with a hand on her shoulder softly shaking her awake.

“Hmm? Wazzup?” Emma mumbled sleepily, tightening her arms ever so slightly over Regina’s waist. The latter had begun sleeping with Emma a few days ago, and they both found that they enjoyed the other’s company at night.

“Wake up Emma, I have to show you something,” Regina said in a mixture of excitement and trepidation.

After letting out a groan, Emma slowly blinked, eyes opening and adjusting to the morning light. She yawned once, opening her mouth wide, before smacking her lips, stretching her legs under the covers. “What is it?”

“Promise you won’t panic,” Regina stated, in a tone that meant she was serious.

Emma blinked once more, the lazy easy feeling of being in bed with her girlfriend slowly dissipating at Regina’s words. “What is it, Regina?”

“Just promise me, please?” Regina’s brow furrowed as her eyes turned pleading.

Nodding, Emma said, “Of course. Now tell me what’s going on; you’re kinda worrying me.”

“It’s nothing drastic, I swear,” Regina said, before sitting up. Emma also sat up, and watched as Regina held her right arm out, palm up, fingers curled to a fist. “Just…don’t panic.”

Suddenly, Emma watched as Regina unfurled her fingers, and fire appeared.

“Holy-!”

“Please don’t panic!” Regina exclaimed just as Emma began to speak, holding her left hand out in a placating gesture.

Emma looked like quite the caricature. Her eyes were wide and she was slack jawed, staring intently at the still burning flame in Regina’s palm. After a few seconds, she pointed at it and dumbly stated, “That’s fire.”

“Yes,” Regina calmly verified.

“Made with…magic?” Emma tried, sounding very uncertain.

Extinguishing the flame, Regina went for something that was perhaps a bit less intense, and focused on a book she had seen on the bookshelf outside. With a wave of her hand, the object was now in front of her.

Continuing to gape, Emma gingerly moved to grab the book, flipping through the pages. “Holy shit,” she breathed. “You have magic.”

Seeing that Emma still looked incredulous, Regina soothingly said, “Yes, I do. But I hope you won’t think less of me knowing that everything I told you is true.”

Emma focused on Regina, eyes wide and searching, clearly coming to grips with the fact that the woman she had brought into her house, that she had fallen for and was subsequently currently dating, was indeed the Evil Queen, a fairy tale character.

Suddenly Emma let go of the book and surged forward, toppling Regina back on the bed until she was lying down, while Emma peppered her with kisses.

She managed to get Regina chuckling, and once she heard the sound, she backed away a bit to look her in the eye. “I’d never think less of you. I will however be more careful when messing around with you, I would not want my ass burned to a crisp.”

Regina’s chuckle morphed into a laugh. “Oh, you should be careful my dear, you have no idea what I’m capable of.”

* * *

Later that day, Emma and Regina had sat Henry down, intending to come clean to him as well.

“What’s this about?” Henry asked, looking between the two women.

“Regina has something to show you, but we don’t want you to freak out, okay?” Emma explained.

Henry nodded, and then turned to Regina. The brunette took a deep breath and focused her energy on teleporting a toy from Henry’s room. In a puff of purple smoke, Henry’s videogame controller was in her hand, the cable dangling.

“Whoa!” Henry exclaimed excitedly, grabbing the controller from her hand and turning it in his hand, seeing his name etched into the plastic. “You have your magic back!”

That had not been what Emma had expected her son to say. “Wait, you were convinced Regina had magic?”

“Duh,” Henry responded in a haughty tone. “Of course.”

Emma was gaping slightly. “But…how?”

Henry shrugged, smiling at his mom’s expression. “It was obvious, Regina’s always kinda seemed magical. Besides, I’m not a sceptic like you are.”

Regina grinned and hugged Henry close to her, on the edge of tears when she felt Henry return the hug, and Emma join in.

* * *

Over at Lacey’s house, the three intrepid guests were sitting baffled, the map of Manhattan long exhausted with magical colourful ink and tiny little peculiar flags called Post-it notes. Somehow they hadn’t managed to catch a whiff of where Regina could be hiding.

“We’re too late,” Snow sighed, looking at the clock. “She probably has her powers back by now, and it’s only a matter of time before she comes for us.”

“We shouldn’t despair quite yet. We have a few more places to look, and there’s only so many places she can hide.”

Meanwhile, Lacey felt as though she was watching an exercise in futility. They couldn’t very well enter all the buildings in Manhattan that they had supposedly searched through, and asking “Have you seen the Evil Queen?” only garnered strange looks, and once being chased away with a broomstick, as Red had recounted. But if they were determined to continue this fool’s errand, she would plant her idea again. “Maybe you would reconsider the ball I mentioned happening this coming Saturday? Before you said it would be too late, but if all else fails, she’s bound to go there…maybe for old time’s sake and get rid of nostalgia?”

David and Snow looked at one another, as if having a silent debate on the merits of agreeing to that idea. Red added, “Lacey and I were already planning on going, so if you guys don’t want to go, we can go for you and see if she’s there. Plus we don’t have to stop searching, but we are more likely to find her that way.”

They acquiesced, after all, who could really resist a ball?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Regina’s ball dress is based on the dress she wore in Mother for her ‘date’ with the Sheriff of Nottingham, and Emma’s suit is based on what Robert wears in the movie Enchanted.


	10. The Ball

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Belle’s dress is based on A Tale of Two Sisters, Snow and Charming’s are based on the Pilot.  
> Song is from the Enchanted movie itself: So Close by Jon McLaughlin.  
> Manip made by the wonderfully talented supernana494

Saturday night arrived quicker than anyone was expecting. Emma and Regina had gotten ready earlier because they had to drop Henry off with Ingrid. Before they left, they went to say bye to An and Jas, who were also going to the ball, but later. It had been Emma who had invited them, saying it could work as a double date night, and they had agreed but they refused to wear the medieval costumes. In fact, they were both in stitches when they opened the door and saw Emma and Regina. An took a picture, promising that she would get plenty of mileage out of it. Emma just stuck her tongue out and promised swift retaliation.

Eventually, they managed to survive traffic and get to the ball. As Regina and Emma took the elevator in the Woolworth building, the latter was becoming increasingly more nervous.

Noting that, Regina turned to her girlfriend and calmly brought her palms to Emma’s suit lapels. “What’s wrong?”

Deciding to fess up, Emma quietly mumbled, “I don’t know how to dance.”

Regina chuckled. “Don’t worry, I’ll teach you. But, you could have told me earlier.”

Emma bit her lip. “I was worried you would want to cancel going to the ball because you’d be embarrassed to be going with someone who has two left feet.”

Understanding the expression, Regina quickly went to reassure Emma. Moving her hands to cup Emma’s cheeks, she gave Emma a sweet kiss, taking advantage of the fact they were in an elevator for the privacy it provided. “I would never, Emma. I have no idea how good this ball will be, but I want to at least show you how it might have been, dancing or not.”

Smiling, Emma relaxed the slightest bit. Right then, the elevator dinged, and Emma held her arm out for Regina to loop her own arm around. “Come on, I have a feeling it will be magical.”

Together, they made their way to the ballroom arm in arm.

An and Jas were already there, dancing, and they waved to the newly arrived couple. Although they looked a bit out of place with the anachronistic clothes, the couple looked perfect as they moved.

“See?” Regina said. “Both Jas and An are managing, so let me teach you the basics.”

* * *

Snow, Charming, Red and Lacey got out of the elevator and surveyed the room from their vantage point at the top of the staircase.

Lacey then remarked, “Oh there’s Emma!”

Red saw the familiar blonde, and just as she was about to continue looking around, she did a double take. “Oh no…”

“What is it?” Lacey and David remarked.

Snow meanwhile, had seen what Red had. Although she didn’t know who this Emma was, Regina was unmistakable. “Oh she is not fooling me twice…” she murmured before stalking down the stairs with the pent up rage of a thousand burning suns.

“Wait, Snow, think this through,” Red attempted to say, going down the stairs after her, but her words fell on deaf ears. Behind her, David followed, hand on the hilt of his sword – because of course he couldn’t very well go to a ball without one, it would be unseemly! – and Lacey just trailed behind, mostly wanting to make sure her new friends and girlfriend didn’t cause a veritable disaster, or hurt someone. Though she wasn’t sure she’d be able to keep up with them, she wasn’t particularly enjoying having to navigate with her canary yellow dress, grabbing onto the front of her skirt like a veritable princess in order to not trip over everything.

Regina had been helping Emma get her dance steps in order, slowly but surely getting the hang of things, until a hand roughly pushed her away. She was preparing to spit out a rude remark, until she saw who she was looking at. She hoped she managed to school her features quickly enough to not betray the sense of dread that washed over her at seeing her long-time nemesis in front of her. Regina had long figured out that the best defense against anything was apathy, with a touch of a mocking sneer. “Snow! My, don’t you look wonderfully ecstatic to see me.”

Behind Snow, Red and Charming stood, while a more petite brunette made up the rear of the group.

“Lacey?” Emma asked, clearly recognizing the stranger.

Lacey for her part, gave a sheepish grimace and shrugged her shoulders, unsure how to react.

“It’s over, witch,” Charming stated, hand moving an inch of the sword out of the scabbard as if demonstrating that he had a real sword, and he wasn’t afraid to use it.

Regina wasn’t intimidated, and instead just smirked. “Well I can see all of you have been adapting wonderfully to this world.”

“What’s going on?” Having seen the commotion surrounding their neighbours, An and Jas had approached the group.

If things hadn’t been so tense, Emma would’ve laughed at the strange gathering of people. Instead she just said, “Old grudges, nothing more.”

Jas and An had been brought to speed on Regina’s fairy tale origins, even with a magical display, so they could discern what was going on.

“Perhaps it would be wise for you to leave,” Charming stated, looking at the newcomers with trepidation.

Jas scathingly bit out, “And perhaps you shouldn’t underestimate us, pretty boy.”

That had effectively silenced Charming.

Snow shook her head. “I have no idea what sort of act this is, but you won’t get away with it.”

“Ploy? There’s no act here, just a ball that you’re disrupting. Now if you’ll excuse me, I was teaching Emma the final steps to waltzing.”

“Don’t act dumb Regina, we know you’re planning something,” Snow countered, glaring at her nemesis.

Raising an eyebrow, Regina let out a peal of laughter. “For once dear, you’re wrong, I’m not planning anything. I’m here with my girlfriend, Emma.”

It was a record-scratching moment. Snow blinked, and focused on Emma, who was staring at the entire scene with apprehension. “Hi,” she sheepishly greeted, flashing an awkward smile and waving her hand.

“How do I know she’s not part of this?” Snow continued, not swayed by Emma’s display.

“Because she’s my friend,” Lacey interjected, coming to stand beside Emma. “And I trust her.”

“We can vouch for her too,” An interjected, and Jas nodded.

This dimmed Snow’s bravado, faltering as she wondered what to do. Then she turned to look back at Regina, and with narrowed, calculating eyes, she asked, “This isn’t some ploy? You really care for her?”

Regina bit her lip, thinking. She could either play this out as she always did, attacking and spitting insults at Snow and her allies. But then she thought about Emma and Henry, their unwavering support, even after finding out about Regina’s magic, and the confirmation that this was all very real, and that they cared for her. So she decided to change her tactic.

Snow never thought she would see such sincerity from Regina. But when the other woman’s shoulders sagged, as she nodded slowly, her eyes pleading to understand, Snow believed her. Despite her earlier misgivings at trusting Regina – not to mention the fact that trusting Regina was what got her in this mess in the first place – she couldn’t make herself believe that Regina had an ulterior motive for being there. Regina did truly look to be smitten with Emma.

Deciding to diffuse the tension, Regina jokingly said, “I think your wish really did work.”

Understanding, Snow let out a happy squeal, nearly tackling Regina as she went to engulf the other woman in a hug.

Regina awkwardly brought one hand to pat Snow’s back. After a few moments, Snow backed away, and turned to Emma, who immediately put her hands up placating.

“We can skip the hug,” Emma said.

Snow chuckled and nodded. “I’m so happy that Regina found love with you. I can only wish you all the happiness for you both.”

“Thank you, Snow,” Regina answered with a small – though still sincere – smile, since Emma seemed a bit awestruck – probably at having realized that her relationship was actually approved by Snow White herself – and put her arm around her girlfriend’s waist.

“Wait, so we’re forgiving them? Just like that?” Charming blurted. Frankly, Regina was just as nonplussed as he was. Was Snow really going to be so forgiving?

Snow looked at Charming and nodded. “I can see that she’s being honest here. There’s no malicious intent here.”

“But…isn’t that what happened when she went to your chambers in our world?” Charming insisted.

“No, when Regina came, I was weary of her, but I decided to trust her, despite the warning signals. Now, I can see she’s wanting to start a new page, and I won’t stop her. She deserves her happy ending, and I think she’s well on her way to it,” Snow explained, looking back at Regina and beaming at her.

Regina smiled and bowed her head a bit in appreciation and understanding. “Now, I think a new song will be starting soon, and I promised Emma a dance.”

Snow nodded and allowed them to leave, as well as the other couple that knew Emma and Regina. Turning back to her fiancé, who was gaping, Snow chuckled.

“What just happened?” he asked.

“Something wonderful. Now come on Charming, let’s dance,” Snow responded, holding her hand out for him to take. David grinned, and put his sword back fully in its scabbard, taking Snow’s hand in his and leading them to the dance floor.

Red, who was ironically dressed completely in a royal blue dress, also took Lacey forward, both giggling at the madness they had just witnessed.

As the music started with a piano, Emma and Regina began to move. Regina smiled at Emma’s reluctant movements, and said, “Relax, don’t worry about stepping on my feet.”

Emma nodded. “Sorry, still just a little dazed.”

“I can see. Snow and her prince have that effect on people,” Regina responded with a grin.

As the music picked up momentum, they continued twirling, and unbeknownst to the pair, who were caught up in each other’s eyes, the other pairs had stopped dancing, watching as the two of them danced.

When the music slowed down a bit, they moved closer, and Emma murmured along with the words, “ _So close to reaching that famous happy ending.”_

Regina smiled and squeezed Emma’s hand, responding with another stanza, _“And now you’re beside me, and look how far we’ve come.”_

At one point, glittering flecks fell, decorating everything around them with a medley of metallic colours, causing Regina to chuckle in unadulterated happiness. This was perfect, she felt as if she was on top of the world.

When the music tapered off, Emma kissed Regina on the cheek and said, “Okay, even though I loved dancing with you, I need a break, and a drink, want one too?”

Regina nodded, and they walked away as another song began, with everyone going back to dance. “I think everyone was watching us,” she remarked.

“Probably stunned by your gorgeousness,” Emma countered with a grin.

Scoffing, Regina lightly shoved her. “Flatterer.”

Turning to face her, Emma gave her a mock bow, before continuing to walk off. Regina shook her head and went back to watching the couples dance.

* * *

Near the refreshments table, a tall figure stood, dressed impeccably like other servers, but her glower made her standoffish to the others who were actually working. The voice in her head was clear about what had to be done.

_‘She can’t have her happy ending! Who will help you in your devious schemes then? There has to be a balance, and she broke it! She left you, abandoned you, and now look! She’s found love! Pah, it wouldn’t last! A villain getting her happy ending, it’s laughable, and it has to be stopped. So you know what to do.’_

So Maleficent approached the blonde with a tray in her hand holding one drink, and plastered a smile on her face. “Good evening miss. Can I interest you in some flavoured water? It’s the last one I have, and you look quite parched.”

Emma couldn’t argue, so she took the cup and downed it. “Thanks.”

After a few seconds, she felt strange. She looked at her empty glass, and then up to her server, who had a malicious glint in her eyes. Then she registered the flavoured water had a distinctive taste. Apples.

Regina heard glass shattering behind her, and when she turned around, her blood turned cold. “ _Emma!_ ”

She rushed to her girlfriend, who was lying on the ground, eyes closed. She tried to shake her awake to no avail. She looked up and saw Maleficent standing there, smirking. “You. What did you do?” she growled, panic rising.

She couldn’t lose another beloved so quickly. She couldn’t be that unlucky, _that_ destined to be miserable. Her mind was whirling, dread rising each second that Emma didn’t awaken, feeling so useless and helpless that she nearly missed Maleficent’s response.

“Reestablished the balance,” Maleficent stated monotonously before walking off. But she didn’t get far. While Regina would’ve let her go, since she was afraid of leaving Emma alone, Red was there, having heard Regina’s cry, backed by David, sword out. “Oh please, don’t insult me by thinking you can stop me.”

“Try us,” Red smirked. “You clearly don’t have any magic, otherwise you’d have already teleported out of here.”

Maleficent growled and conjured her staff. “You were saying?”

Meanwhile, Snow came up to crouch on Emma’s other side, not minding the glass that crunched beneath her heels. Regina wanted to shoo her away, but she couldn’t find the energy to do so. “What happened?”

Regina didn’t know, and she just held Emma tighter and shook her head, not saying a word. An kneeled beside Regina by Emma’s head. “Have you tried CPR?”

“CPR?” Regina asked, dazed.

“May I?” An asked. Regina acquiesced, putting Emma down on the ground and moving to clutch her leg. An performed chest compressions before blowing air into her lungs, but she had no luck.

Seeing no results, she backed away, going to stand by where Jas was. Regina took Emma once more into her arms, feeling the heat slowly dissipate from her girlfriend’s body. She held her tears at bay, wanting to collapse at seeing Emma so still and unmoving. What would she tell Henry?

“Hey!” Jas exclaimed, stalking up to where Maleficent was still fighting. Charming had already been thrown back, and Lacey was currently helping him get his sword out from where it was imbedded into the wall.

Red and Maleficent, who were both clutching the staff, froze in surprise and Jas took the opportunity to grab Maleficent by the collar of her dress. “What the hell did you do to Emma?”

“Why, I put her in a deep sleep, silly peasant,” Maleficent taunted, before flicking her hand and sending Jas skidding away.

“Jas!” An exclaimed, running after her wife, who had landed near where Charming and Lacey were. The rest of the partygoers and staff were all still with apprehension, wondering if this was real or all part of an act of some sort.

“Try true love’s kiss!” Snow exclaimed.

“It wouldn’t work!” Regina automatically responded. “You need to be true loves for that to work.”

Snow sighed exasperatedly. “And what do you classify yourselves as having? If there’s ever been truer love than yours, I have yet to see it, and I’ve only known Emma for less than an hour. Go on, at least try it. You have nothing to lose.”

Regina was ready to disagree. The possibility of finding out that they perhaps weren’t true loves was utterly terrifying to her. But she put her fear aside and brought her lips to Emma’s.

At first, there was nothing, then a beam of multi-coloured light shot out, and Regina felt Emma moving beneath her. Breaking away from the kiss, Regina looked at Emma, and let out a wracking sob at seeing the blonde smiling and awake. “It worked,” she breathed out.

“What did?” Emma asked, confused. Regina didn’t respond, but rather just showered Emma with kisses.

Seeing that the crisis had been averted, Snow stood up, and turned to Maleficent, who was at that moment, being held captive by Red, wielding her staff and pointing it at the witch. Making her way to David who was walking with Lacey’s support towards a lonely chintz chair near the wall, she went up and gave him a kiss. “Are you alright?”

“I’ve been better, but in one piece,” David reassured her.

Lacey excused herself, muttering something about her purse and left Snow and Charming alone.

An and Jas were trailing behind, the latter gingerly walking while An carried the longsword in her hands. They made their way to Emma, who was standing up.

“Good to see you’re okay,” An said with a smile and a nod. Jas gave Emma a soft hug, glad that her friend was okay.

Emma chuckled once she broke from the hug, once more taking Regina’s hand in her own, “Yeah, dream world wasn’t all that fun.”

Suddenly a piercing voice broke the calm. “You fools! You couldn’t just leave well enough alone!”

Everyone turned to Maleficent, but she looked just as startled as everyone else.

“Honestly, the balance was perfect!” Looking behind them, the Blue Fairy stood there in human form, looking absolutely incensed. “But then you had to go destroy everything!” she screeched, pointing at Regina.

“Blue?” Snow asked, stepping forward. “What’s going on?”

“Everything was happening according to plan. Good stayed on the side of good, and evil was in their corner. But of course she had to start that ludicrous plan to take you to another land, and you pulled her in it!”

The fairy was sounding relatively frazzled, and Regina just kept staring, trying to keep her own anger in check. “You mean to tell me that you are so determined to keep the status quo you’d destroy someone’s happy ending over it?”

Blue let out a mirthless laugh. “Oh please, this isn’t a happy ending, you don’t get a happy ending, _Regina_. All you get are fruitless attempts at destroying Snow, but they are thwarted every time. Then eventually you fail so spectacularly, you end up rotting in a cell until the end of your days.”

Emma growled, a deep scowl in her face. “You’ll have to go through me before you make that nonsense a reality.”

“You? The sceptic who took in the Evil Queen? One must wonder what your life must’ve been like for you to accept the affection from such an evil creature.”

Regina stared, eyes wide at Blue’s words. But then she felt Emma’s hand squeeze tighter around her own. “Regina is ten times the woman that you could ever wish you could be. You are a pathetic, weak coward.”

Blue’s face contorted in rage, and then she turned to Maleficent. Suddenly, she shifted, and her body grew, turning into a veritable dragon.

Emma gaped in shock, “I’m guessing that’s Maleficent?”

“Indeed,” Regina nodded. Before she could move, Maleficent flew towards her, grabbing onto her waist with her sharp talons, tugging her away.

“Regina!” Emma exclaimed, trying to keep her hold on Regina’s hand. Jas and An tried to help, grabbing on to Emma, but Maleficent’s strength overpowered them, and with a yank, she pulled Regina away, headed out, crashing through the wide floor to ceiling windows on the way. It was pouring rain outside, so the shattering glass also brought in copious amounts of water.

Emma barely thought about her actions as she moved, grabbing the sword that An had dropped, and headed out the window after the dragon.

On the balcony, she heard the dragon roar above her, and looked up as best as she could through the thick drops of water falling. She’d never been that great at rock climbing, but scaling the building should be easier than rocks. So she sheathed the sword in her belt, and began to climb, using the grooves to help.

Thankfully, the ballroom was near the top of the building, so she didn’t have to climb that high before she was catching up to the dragon’s tail.

Meanwhile, Regina was trying to talk to Maleficent. She had tried to use her magic, but the dragon’s claws were too tight for her to focus her magic, so she had to try the diplomatic route. “Mal, please, think about what you’re doing! Why are you allying yourself with her?”

Maleficent let out a mournful groan, and Regina understood. “You’re not doing this of your own volition, are you?”

Suddenly, Mal let out a loud yelp of pain.

“Let her go!” she heard Emma yell through the rain, and saw her girlfriend clutching a stone railing, Charming’s sword in her hand, having clearly stabbed Mal’s tail with it.

Regina was touched, but at the same time, she couldn’t allow Emma to hurt Maleficent. “Emma wait! Don’t hurt her!”

Emma heard her and frowned. How was she supposed to get Regina out of this then?

Before she could think of alternative non-lethal ideas, she first had to deal with the extremely large tail headed her way. She could hardly move away, so she threw herself flat against the side of the building, feeling the tail swish past her.

Maleficent growled, and the tail began to swing back, this time scraping against the stone.

“Mal, please don’t hurt her!” Regina pleaded.

But her words fell on deaf ears, and the tail continued moving. So Emma decided to hustle, continuing her climb closer to the top, reaching the green metal turret.

* * *

Below, Snow and Red were trying to talk to Blue in an attempt to get her to stop this madness.

Jas and An were being efficient spokespeople and marshalling everyone out, claiming an experimental show gone wrong, saying that they hoped they enjoyed the show until that point.

Charming could do little, since he was pretty sure his leg was damaged from the crash against the wall and subsequent fall. So he was stuck on chair rest, at Snow’s insistence. Plus, without his sword, he was unable to help anyway.

“Please Blue, can’t you just let Regina have this? She’s changed!” Snow insisted.

“Nonsense, she is supposed to be a villain, not change and get a redemption _and_ a true love. She has to suffer,” Blue stated.

Red scoffed. “And why do you get to choose?”

“Because I am an ancient creature. I know how things are supposed to work, and Regina was never meant to be happy.”

“How can you claim to be the paragon of good when you won’t even give people the chance to be good?” Snow bit back.

“’The chance to be good’? My dear Snow, Regina has always been evil, all she needed was a push in the right direction.”

“You’d know all about that, wouldn’t you?” the princess countered.

“Of course, I orchestrated everything. You telling her mother about the stable boy, simple suggestions are all it takes to make someone do your bidding.”

Red growled. “We’ve lost friends in this war between Regina and Snow…all because of you?”

“Sacrifices must be made in order to keep the balance upright,” Blue haughtily explained.

“Seems like Regina’s weight in the evil column could be more than filled with your sorry ass,” Red snarked, crossing her arms in front of her.

Blue harrumphed, but didn’t get to deign that insult with an answer, since she was pelleted with a spoon. And then two, three. She growled in frustration and turned to the direction they were originating from, finding Jas and An with armfuls of the utensils, chucking them at the fairy.

“Oh come now dears, you can’t really expect that will do anything, right?” Blue asked with a saccharine voice, making her way closer.

“Nope,” Jas responded, smirking.

“We’re just the distraction,” An added.

“Dist-?” Suddenly a bell started ringing, its sound amplified all around the room. Red, with her sensitive hearing, cringed, covering her ears and looking towards the stage, seeing Lacey standing with the bell that Blue had given them, ringing it against the microphone.

While Blue clutched her head, Lacey yelled out, “Now!”

An moved forward, a black leather bracelet on her hand, and she snapped it shut around one of Blue’s wrists. Once it was safely fastened, An raised her arm, showing a thumb’s up for Lacey, who stopped ringing the bell.

“No!” Blue screeched, trying to wrench the manacle from around her wrist, clawing at the leather wildly. “What did you do?!”

“Research,” Lacey responded with a smirk, walking up to them with the bell in her hand. “Fairies are quite susceptible to these bells if played loudly enough.”

Letting out a growl of fury, Blue practically shook with rage. “How dare you meddle in affairs you have no idea about? You are a measly mortal!”

Red chuckled. “Really, Blue? That’s what you’re going with? There’s actually a pretty nifty saying in this world for people like you: sore loser.”

Last weekend, after Blue’s visit, Red had confided in her girlfriend about her misgivings regarding the fairy, and Lacey took the time to rifle through some books at the Public Library, eventually finding some old volumes on fairy tales and lore that spoke about how to subdue fairies.

Lacey meanwhile, was beaming. “I may be, but I’m the measly mortal that orchestrated a plan on the spot that managed to take you down, so put that in your pipe and smoke it.”

* * *

Outside, things were a bit hectic. While Emma had been climbing the turret, Maleficent tried to swat her away with her tail, but only managed to hit the flèches, prickling herself quite painfully in the process.

Just as Emma was reaching Maleficent’s feet, the dragon began to let out an inhuman screech, and thrash around. Unbeknownst to them, Maleficent was reacting to the bell Lacey was ringing, and in her confusion, she let Regina go.

“Regina!” Emma exclaimed, watching as Regina plummeted. Planting her feet firmly near a metallic ridge on the roof, she put her sword away and held her arms out, catching Regina squarely in her grip. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, you?” Regina breathlessly responded, dazed that Emma actually caught her, wrapping her arms around Emma’s neck.

“Fine…” Emma started to say, but froze as she saw Maleficent’s tail headed right for them. With a grunt, the tail knocked right into them, making Emma lose her balance and slip. The rain running down the metal surface made it very slick, and there was little they could do as Emma’s boots lost their traction and she tripped, falling flat on her back and began plunging down the slope towards the edge.

The lights of New York’s skyline were getting ever closer, the green surface diminishing; they were both panicking and Regina decided that there was nothing to lose, so she called forth her magic and willed it to work.

She had never teleported herself while moving, less so with a passenger, and certainly never in this world, but there was a first time for everything. Moving her arms, she felt the familiar tingle of her powers at work, until there was nothing.

And then there was firm solid concrete ground.

Emma, who had her eyes clenched closed, cracked one eye open, and saw that they were on the balcony of the ballroom, still wet, but no longer plummeting to certain doom.

 “What-“

Regina chuckled. “Magic. I teleported us away and back down.”

“Holy shit, just how powerful are you?” Emma numbly gaped.

“Wait until I finally get used to magic in this world, you’ll be able to see,” Regina responded, giving Emma a kiss. “Incidentally, thank you for coming to rescue me.”

Emma snorted. “Not much saving, you kind of ended up saving both our asses.”

Regina beamed and nodded. Before she could say anything more, Maleficent appeared in front of them, once more in human form. She felt Emma’s arms tense around her, and she soothingly stroked the arm in front of her and asked Mal, “Feeling a bit better?”

Maleficent nodded. “Yes, it’s a lot better without that gnat’s thoughts polluting my brain.”

They turned to look inside where a very furious Blue was yelling at Lacey, but both she and her girlfriend were smirking.

“I do apologize for the damage though,” Maleficent added, looking around at the destruction. “Now, let’s dry ourselves and go back in, shall we? Then I will fix the windows and everything will be right as rain…if you’ll pardon the pun.”

Emma sincerely doubted everything would be so clear cut, but she got up, pulling Regina along with her, making their way inside. Once they crossed the threshold, Regina waved her arm and twirled her wrist, drying them.

“Beats using a hair dryer,” Emma mumbled as she touched her dry hair in wonder.

Letting out a chuckle, she gestured to where the rest of the group stood. “Shall we go see what our friends and the Charmings are up to?”

With a nod, they walked up to a still irate Blue, who practically fainted when Emma decided to be cocky and French dip Regina before giving her a passionate kiss.


	11. Epilogue - Ever Ever After

The next day, Snow and Charming were gearing up to head back home. Lacey and Red tried to convince them to stay, but although this world did have its magic, they were used to the Enchanted Forest, and were growing home sick. Plus, they had a surly fairy in tow, who was going to be swiftly brought to justice. From what they had they been able to figure out, Blue had been subtly influencing the Enchanted Forest's proclaimed evil-doers to think and react in a certain way, maintaining the status-quo she had been harping about.

Maleficent would also be returning with them, being offered a full pardon for Charming’s actions and a new luscious home in protected lands.

Before they left, Snow pulled Regina aside.

“I know we’ve had our differences, but seeing you with Emma is like seeing a whole new you, and I can only wish the best of happiness, and maybe perhaps once you two get married, we can be invited?”

Regina promptly blushed a fresh shade of red, speechless. Snow took the opportunity of having stunned Regina to give her a hug, before joining her fiancé at the fountain’s edge.

It was early Sunday morning, the park was nearly empty, except for a few stray joggers, but they weren’t paying any of them any mind. With Blue’s reluctant explanation and Maleficent’s magic, they were able to conjure up a bean that would take them back to the Enchanted Forest.

With a last wave goodbye, Snow was the last to jump into the portal, and then it was quiet again. Lacey and Red looked towards Regina and Emma, and together, they walked out towards the city, and their new lives.

* * *

Red ended up getting a job helping over at Regina’s pastry shop, which opened to a resounding success.  _Royal Delights_ catered to everyone’s sweet tooth, especially the apple turnovers. Ingrid was ecstatic at how the store was flourishing, and helped around by offering tips whenever she could.

Emma was also on the road to prosperity – a gallery owner had taken note of her photography and asked if she would be interested in a spot in the next show. After practically running around the apartment like a hyperactive puppy, Emma immediately agreed, and couldn’t wait to show her work to the world.

* * *

Two months later, everyone was invited to Regina and Emma’s engagement party. Henry was the most ecstatic one there, absolutely thrilled that his family was growing. Jas and An also took the opportunity on the talk about expanding families to announce that they were going to be trying for a baby, though the jury was still out on who would carry it.

Lacey’s bookstore continued to be a hit, especially after a new exclusive book appeared, a fresh take on a traditional fairy tale, mixing in with the modern world, climaxing at an opulent medieval ball with dragons and fairies and magic.

* * *

About a year later, Regina couldn’t sleep, so she got up and walked to the kitchen, grabbing a cup of water before heading to the windows. She looked out and saw the city bustling in its nightlife, truly never sleeping.

Smiling, she heard steps from behind her, and turned around, seeing Emma shuffling towards her. “Hey you, can’t sleep?”

“Not really, can you believe it’s been a year?” Regina asked.

Emma chuckled before pulling Regina into her arms. “Somewhat. Now, whether I would’ve believed if someone had told me say… three years ago, that one day I would marry a fairytale character, I’d probably have burst out laughing and then called them crazy.”

Regina rolled her eyes before swatting Emma’s shoulder playfully. “Technically we’re not married yet dear, that’s tomorrow.”

Scoffing, Emma mockingly parroted. “Then ‘technically’ it’s today, in about 12 hours.”

“You’re lucky I love you,” Regina murmured before kissing Emma.

“As if there was ever any doubt,” Emma cheekily responded.

And they all lived happily ever after.

_The End_

**Author's Note:**

> And that was the end of this journey! I hope everyone enjoyed this, I certainly loved writing it, so I’d love to know what you think!


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